|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
What Major Revisions and a Blowout Month Tell Us About the Jobs Market
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs in January, its strongest growth in over a year, and a sign that the labor market may be shaking off its recent stagnation. January’s robust gains surprised forecasters, blowing far past consensus expectations. The report is likely to cement the Federal Reserve's wait-and-see posture, making it difficult for officials to build a case for further rate cuts based on labor-market weakness. While the January numbers exceeded expectations, the government dramatically lowered its estimates for how many jobs the economy generated over the past two years.
|
|
|
|
Jobs Market: What Sweeping Revisions and a Blowout Month Tell Us
|
|
|
|
|
The American workforce is increasingly donning scrubs.
January’s strong jobs report, and sweeping revisions that slashed jobs numbers for the past two years, show how much the U.S. labor market is transforming. The mixed jobs picture reflects surging demand for people in healthcare and social services but a bleaker environment for government employees, factory workers and cubicle dwellers. Here are some big takeaways.
|
|
|
|
Fed’s Schmid Pushes Back on Rate-Cut Prospects
|
|
|
Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid reaffirmed his resistance to further interest-rate cuts, arguing that further Fed easing would risk allowing inflation to remain too high. “In my view, further rate cuts risk allowing high inflation to persist even longer,” Schmid said, according to a published text of his remarks.
|
|
|
|
|
Demand for Bonds Is Insatiable. Even Risky Borrowers Are Gaining.
|
|
|
|
|
A new AI borrowing frenzy and lingering fears about potential defaults haven’t deterred investors hungry for bonds from U.S. companies, states and cities.
The extra yield—or spread—that investors demand to hold highly rated corporate bonds instead of ultrasafe U.S. Treasurys hit a 27-year low in late January. Spreads on speculative-grade corporate bonds dropped to an 18-year low. In the $4 trillion municipal bond market, the spread between interest rates on triple-A and triple-B bonds is at one of its lowest points in two years. Those tight spreads are the latest sign of how bonds remain stubbornly resistant to concerns rattling other markets.
|
|
U.S. Budget Hole Set to Deepen by Trillions
|
|
|
The U.S. budget deficit will remain roughly flat for the next two years and then widen over the next decade as interest costs consume an increasing share of spending, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday in a forecast that highlighted America's long-run fiscal challenges.
|
|
|
|
|
Key Developments Around the World
|
|
|
GOP-Led House Rejects Trump’s Tariffs on Canada
|
|
|
The GOP-led House passed a resolution Wednesday designed to roll back President Trump’s tariffs on Canada, as a half-dozen Republicans joined Democrats in rebuking the administration’s signature economic policy.
|
|
|
|
|
U.K. Posts Modest Growth for 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sanctions, Ship Seizures, Low Prices Squeeze Russia’s Oil Industry
|
|
|
Dozens of tankers filled with Russian oil are floating at sea without buyers. Western powers are seizing the aging ships the country relies upon. Buyers of Russian oil are demanding the steepest discount to global oil prices since the early months of the war in Ukraine.
|
|
|
IEA: Oil Supply to Rebound After U.S. Winter Storm Slashed Output
|
|
|
The International Energy Agency expects global oil supply to rebound in the coming months after plunging in January due to a severe winter storm in the U.S. and export constraints that curtailed flows from Kazakhstan, Russia and Venezuela.
|
|
|
|
|
Crypto Lender BlockFills Suspends Client Withdrawals
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8:30 a.m.: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
10 a.m.: Existing Home Sales
10 a.m.: U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins testifies to Senate Banking Committee
7 p.m.: Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran and FRB Dallas President Lorie Logan speak at Global Perspectives event
|
|
|
|
|
8:30 a.m.: CPI
8:30 a.m.: Real Earnings
6 p.m.: Deadline for passage of new funding bill for U.S. Department of Homeland Security
|
|
|
|
|
WSJ Pro Central Banking brings you central banking news, analysis and insights from WSJ’s global team of reporters and editors. This newsletter was compiled by markets reporter Vicky Ge Huang in New York. Send your tips, suggestions and feedback to vicky.huang@wsj.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
