Tag: Jobs and careers

Still hiring: Big Tech layoffs give other sectors an opening

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For the thousands of workers who’d never experienced upheaval in the tech sector, the recent mass layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta came as a shock.

Now they are being courted by long-established employers whose names aren’t typically synonymous with tech work, including hotel chains, retailers, investment firms, railroad companies and even the Internal Revenue Service.

All of those sectors have signaled on recruiting platforms that they are still hiring software engineers, data scientists and cybersecurity specialists despite the layoffs in Big Tech. It’s a chance for them to level the playing field against tech giants that have long had their pick of the top talent with lucrative compensation, alluring perks and sheer name recognition.

No employer is making a more aggressive push than the country’s largest: the federal government, which is aiming to hire 22,000 tech workers in fiscal year 2023. Federal agencies have participated in a series of “Tech to Gov” job forums targeted in part at laid off workers, hoping to ease their own chronic labor shortages that have hindered efforts to strengthen cybersecurity defenses and modernize the way they deliver benefits and collect taxes.

“It’s a real opportunity for the federal government,” said Rob Shriver deputy director of the U.S. office of Personnel Management. “We have just about any tech job that anybody could possibly be interested in the federal government.”

Federal, state and local government tech job postings soared 48% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to an analysis by tech trade group CompTIA of data from Lightcast, a labor analytics firm. It was a sharp contrast to the 33% decrease in tech job openings during that period in the tech industry, and a 31.5% slowdown in such postings across the economy, according to CompTIA’s figures.

Tech hiring reached a historic high of more than 4 million in 2022, although hiring began to fall off in the second half of the year, according to CompTIA. This year, there have been about 1.26 million tech postings between January and May, a level more on par with the pre-pandemic years, said Tim Herbert, chief research officer at CompTIA.

To be sure, the competition for tech talent remains tight, and many companies, including tech companies, are still hiring — just more slowly. The unemployment rate for tech workers is just 2%. But some who lost their jobs in Big Tech swiftly landed jobs at non-tech firms.

After Hector Garcia, 53, was laid off by Meta’s Facebook in November, it didn’t take long for him to be snapped up by Abbott, the Chicago-based global health company, which expects to hire hundreds of software engineers, data architects and cybersecurity analysts over the next years.

“I decided to go for something that I hadn’t done before,” said Garcia, a data architect who said he got offers from tech firms but was intrigued by the idea of working for a manufacturer that produces something tangible in medical devices.

Jonathan Johnson, CEO of online retailer Overstock, said that he has seen a 20% increase in applications for tech job openings in first quarter compared to a year ago. He also noted that it’s taking a shorter time to fill a spot compared to a year ago and that the quality of applicants has improved.

“There’s less demand and more supply,” Johnson said.

The layoffs have been especially shocking for the newest generation of workers who are too young to remember the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2000 and “grew up consuming the apps and services of the big tech brands,” said Christine Cruzvergara, chief education strategy officer for Handshake, a leading career site for college students and graduates.

“The volatility and layoffs of the past year rocked that image of stability and growth,” Cruzvergara said.

During the September 2022-2023 school year, the share of applications by tech majors to tech companies fell by 4.4 percentage points on Handshake, compared to last year. In contrast, the share of applications by tech majors to government jobs on the platform grew by 2.5 percentage points.

Tech firms still saw a 46% increase applications from tech majors, as Handshake received more applications overall from that group. But the application to government jobs rose much faster, tripling from last year. Hospitality and health care jobs also saw an increase in applications from tech majors — 18% and 82%, respectively — and their share of applicants from that pool remained steady.

Kevin Monahan, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Career and Professional Development Center, said he first saw a shift last fall before some of the biggest layoffs. More students returned from internships saying that tech companies weren’t extending job offers or return internships at that time.

“Indirectly, students were able to see the writing on the wall,” Monahan said.

Ly Na Nguyen, a computer science major at Columbia University, said she went off LinkedIn for a couple of weeks at the height of the layoffs because it was so disheartening to read posts from people shocked over their dismissals. Nguyen is happy to be returning to Amazon this summer for another internship, which she said has added prestige to her resume. But overtures from outside Big Tech has have grabbed her attention.

“Right now, I’m super flexible,” Nguyen said. “I’d definitely look at a government job.”

In March, young tech workers from several federal agencies spoke at an online forum on Handshake about the government’s urgent need to recruit new talent. Less than 7% of the federal workforce is under 30.

“No one is necessarily going to strike it rich working in the government,” said Chris Kuang, co-founder of the U.S. Digital Corp, a federal fellowship program for early career technologists, answering a question about pay. But he encouraged students to consider benefits such as pension plans, job stability and the possibility of working on “any issue under the sun.”

“In this economy, a federal job will be one of the most secure types out there,” Kuang said.

The government faces plenty of competition from private sector companies making similar overtures.

Hotels and restaurants also posted slightly more tech jobs in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year, according to CompTIA figures, as the sector emerges from the economic turmoil of the pandemic.

Hilton saw a 152% increase in applications to internships and full-time jobs from tech majors on Handshake this school year, compared to the year prior.

“We do want to demystify the siloed thinking of ’Hey, if I want to work in tech, I have to go work at a tech firm,” Hilton Chief Human Resources Officer Laura Fuentes said during a recent forum on Handshake.

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AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed to this story.

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June 27, 2023
Amazon, Marriott and other companies vow to hire thousands of refugees in Europe

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LONDON — Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe.

Just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday, more than 40 corporations say they will hire, connect to work or train a total of 250,000 refugees, with 13,680 of them getting jobs directly in those companies.

“Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as possible,” said Kelly Clements, U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees. “So the commitments that businesses are going to make on Monday are absolutely essential.”

She says 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, with an estimated 12 million from Ukraine, nearly half of whom are living in Europe after the continent’s largest movement of refugees since World War II.

The hiring push in Europe was organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya that connects businesses and refugees, and is being unveiled at a gathering in Paris. The group’s first summit in the U.S. last year led to commitments to hire 22,725 refugees.

In the new round, Amazon leads the pack, vowing to hire at least 5,000 refugees over the next three years in Europe, followed by Marriott and Hilton with 1,500 each, Starbucks and ISS with 1,000 each, and smaller commitments from brands like Adidas, Starbucks, L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Hyatt.

“This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company,” said Ofori Agboka, Amazon vice president overseeing human resources. “With diversity brings innovation, creativity, different insights.”

He said the vast majority of jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment and storage centers and in transport and delivery.

Amazon announced 27,000 job cuts earlier this year, part of a wave of layoffs after tech companies ramped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those layoffs primarily affected salaried office jobs, Agboka said.

Daria Sedihi-Volchenko fled Kyiv last year and now works in Warsaw, Poland, as a senior program manager for an Amazon Web Services program providing free tech training for Ukrainians. She says about 40% of those in the program have no tech background.

“I went through the same way as many of our learners … are going through,” she said. “I had to learn, and I took a commitment on my interview. I said that ‘OK, if we can agree and I can start working for you, I promise to learn Polish and I promise to learn technical skills.’”

A year ago, Sedihi-Volchenko woke up to explosions from Russia’s invasion.

“I was terrified. I was so scared for Ukraine, for the nation, for the future, for my own life,” she said. “But also that was a shocking moment when I understood that everything in my life is changing.”

She began living in basements but left as Russian forces approached Kyiv. She drove 40 hours to reach Moldova, thankful that she “didn’t drive on a single land mine and nobody shot into my car.”

She went to Poland to find work, embarking on an IT path after working as a project manager for government ministries and as an economist in Ukraine.

Companies are hoping refugees can fill staffing needs after the economy bounced back from the pandemic. In Europe, unemployment is at its lowest since the euro currency was introduced in 1999.

“We’re seeing record levels of demand for our properties across many markets here in Europe,” Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said. “And so we are hiring aggressively to make sure we can accommodate our guests as demand ramps up.”

Marriott’s jobs will largely be hourly positions like housekeepers, kitchen staff and front desk attendants.

European nations have welcomed Ukrainians, and while Clements applauded opening schools, workplaces and other opportunities to them, she said the same should be offered to others fleeing conflict and crises in places like Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan.

Sedihi-Volchenko knows the challenges ahead for refugees, even as some companies offer help with language skills, counseling and training. Job listings can be difficult to decipher, and like her, they may have difficulty securing a stable internet connection or work clothes.

“It’s important to give a refugee just time to learn the language, but the person can start working because if you bring experience with IT systems or finance or project management or any other area, naturally, you understand, it’s not so much about the language. You understand the flow of work,” she said.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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June 19, 2023
Amazon, Marriott and other companies vow to hire thousands of refugees in Europe

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Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe.

Just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday, more than 40 corporations say they will hire, connect to work or train a total of 250,000 refugees, with 13,680 of them getting jobs directly in those companies.

“Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as possible,” said Kelly Clements, U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees. “So the commitments that businesses are going to make on Monday are absolutely essential.”

She says 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, with an estimated 12 million from Ukraine, nearly half of whom are living in Europe after the continent’s largest movement of refugees since World War II.

The hiring push in Europe was organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya that connects businesses and refugees, and is being unveiled at a gathering in Paris. The group’s first summit in the U.S. last year led to commitments to hire 22,725 refugees.

In the new round, Amazon leads the pack, vowing to hire at least 5,000 refugees over the next three years in Europe, followed by Marriott and Hilton with 1,500 each, Starbucks and ISS with 1,000 each, and smaller commitments from brands like Adidas, Starbucks, L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Hyatt.

“This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company,” said Ofori Agboka, Amazon vice president overseeing human resources. “With diversity brings innovation, creativity, different insights.”

He said the vast majority of jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment and storage centers and in transport and delivery.

Amazon announced 27,000 job cuts earlier this year, part of a wave of layoffs after tech companies ramped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those layoffs primarily affected salaried office jobs, Agboka said.

Daria Sedihi-Volchenko fled Kyiv last year and now works in Warsaw, Poland, as a senior program manager for an Amazon Web Services program providing free tech training for Ukrainians. She says about 40% of those in the program have no tech background.

“I went through the same way as many of our learners … are going through,” she said. “I had to learn, and I took a commitment on my interview. I said that ‘OK, if we can agree and I can start working for you, I promise to learn Polish and I promise to learn technical skills.’”

A year ago, Sedihi-Volchenko woke up to explosions from Russia’s invasion.

“I was terrified. I was so scared for Ukraine, for the nation, for the future, for my own life,” she said. “But also that was a shocking moment when I understood that everything in my life is changing.”

She began living in basements but left as Russian forces approached Kyiv. She drove 40 hours to reach Moldova, thankful that she “didn’t drive on a single land mine and nobody shot into my car.”

She went to Poland to find work, embarking on an IT path after working as a project manager for government ministries and as an economist in Ukraine.

Companies are hoping refugees can fill staffing needs after the economy bounced back from the pandemic. In Europe, unemployment is at its lowest since the euro currency was introduced in 1999.

“We’re seeing record levels of demand for our properties across many markets here in Europe,” Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said. “And so we are hiring aggressively to make sure we can accommodate our guests as demand ramps up.”

Marriott’s jobs will largely be hourly positions like housekeepers, kitchen staff and front desk attendants.

European nations have welcomed Ukrainians, and while Clements applauded opening schools, workplaces and other opportunities to them, she said the same should be offered to others fleeing conflict and crises in places like Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan.

Sedihi-Volchenko knows the challenges ahead for refugees, even as some companies offer help with language skills, counseling and training. Job listings can be difficult to decipher, and like her, they may have difficulty securing a stable internet connection or work clothes.

“It’s important to give a refugee just time to learn the language, but the person can start working because if you bring experience with IT systems or finance or project management or any other area, naturally, you understand, it’s not so much about the language. You understand the flow of work,” she said.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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June 19, 2023
Amazon, Marriott and other companies vow to hire thousands of refugees in Europe

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Multinational companies including Amazon, Marriott and Hilton pledged Monday to hire more than 13,000 refugees, including Ukrainian women who have fled the war with Russia, over the next three years in Europe.

Just ahead of World Refugee Day on Tuesday, more than 40 corporations say they will hire, connect to work or train a total of 250,000 refugees, with 13,680 of them getting jobs directly in those companies.

“Every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as possible,” said Kelly Clements, U.N. deputy high commissioner for refugees. “So the commitments that businesses are going to make on Monday are absolutely essential.”

She says 110 million people have been displaced worldwide, with an estimated 12 million from Ukraine, nearly half of whom are living in Europe after the continent’s largest movement of refugees since World War II.

The hiring push in Europe was organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya that connects businesses and refugees, and is being unveiled at a gathering in Paris. The group’s first summit in the U.S. last year led to commitments to hire 22,725 refugees.

In the new round, Amazon leads the pack, vowing to hire at least 5,000 refugees over the next three years in Europe, followed by Marriott and Hilton with 1,500 each, Starbucks and ISS with 1,000 each, and smaller commitments from brands like Adidas, Starbucks, L’Oreal, PepsiCo and Hyatt.

“This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company,” said Ofori Agboka, Amazon vice president overseeing human resources. “With diversity brings innovation, creativity, different insights.”

He said the vast majority of jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment and storage centers and in transport and delivery.

Amazon announced 27,000 job cuts earlier this year, part of a wave of layoffs after tech companies ramped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those layoffs primarily affected salaried office jobs, Agboka said.

Daria Sedihi-Volchenko fled Kyiv last year and now works in Warsaw, Poland, as a senior program manager for an Amazon Web Services program providing free tech training for Ukrainians. She says about 40% of those in the program have no tech background.

“I went through the same way as many of our learners … are going through,” she said. “I had to learn, and I took a commitment on my interview. I said that ‘OK, if we can agree and I can start working for you, I promise to learn Polish and I promise to learn technical skills.’”

A year ago, Sedihi-Volchenko woke up to explosions from Russia’s invasion.

“I was terrified. I was so scared for Ukraine, for the nation, for the future, for my own life,” she said. “But also that was a shocking moment when I understood that everything in my life is changing.”

She began living in basements but left as Russian forces approached Kyiv. She drove 40 hours to reach Moldova, thankful that she “didn’t drive on a single land mine and nobody shot into my car.”

She went to Poland to find work, embarking on an IT path after working as a project manager for government ministries and as an economist in Ukraine.

Companies are hoping refugees can fill staffing needs after the economy bounced back from the pandemic. In Europe, unemployment is at its lowest since the euro currency was introduced in 1999.

“We’re seeing record levels of demand for our properties across many markets here in Europe,” Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano said. “And so we are hiring aggressively to make sure we can accommodate our guests as demand ramps up.”

Marriott’s jobs will largely be hourly positions like housekeepers, kitchen staff and front desk attendants.

European nations have welcomed Ukrainians, and while Clements applauded opening schools, workplaces and other opportunities to them, she said the same should be offered to others fleeing conflict and crises in places like Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan.

Sedihi-Volchenko knows the challenges ahead for refugees, even as some companies offer help with language skills, counseling and training. Job listings can be difficult to decipher, and like her, they may have difficulty securing a stable internet connection or work clothes.

“It’s important to give a refugee just time to learn the language, but the person can start working because if you bring experience with IT systems or finance or project management or any other area, naturally, you understand, it’s not so much about the language. You understand the flow of work,” she said.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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June 18, 2023
China’s factory, consumer activity weakens in May, youth unemployment rises

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China’s factory and consumer activity weakened further in May and surging unemployment among young people in cities broke the previous month’s record as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed

ByJOE McDONALD AP Business Writer

Commuters walk across an intersection during the evening rush hour in the central business district in Beijing, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. China’s consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Associated Press

BEIJING — China’s consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed.

Surveys found 20.8% of potential workers in cities aged 16-24 were unemployed, up from April’s previous record of 20.4%, the government reported Thursday.

China’s economic activity rebounded after the ruling Communist Party in December lifted controls that cut off access to major cities for weeks at a time and blocked most international travel. But consumers, uneasy about possible job losses, returned to shops and restaurants less quickly than expected.

“The foundation for the economic recovery is not yet solid,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

Economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%. Growth will have to accelerate in coming quarters to hit the ruling party’s annual target of “around 5%.”

“The data published today suggest that the reopening recovery had largely fizzled out by May,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report. “The economy appears to have lost some further momentum during the first half of June, too.”

Retail sales rose 12.7% over a year earlier, but that was down from April’s 18.4%, which was barely half the rate expected by forecasters. Growth in factory output decelerated to 3.5% from the previous month’s 5.6% after interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe to cool inflation depressed demand for Chinese exports.

The youth unemployment figure represents about 6 million jobless people out of a pool of 33 million people aged 16-24 who want to work, according to the NBS spokesman, Fu Linghui.

“The employment pressure of young people is still significant,” Fu said. He said there was a mismatch between job seekers and the skills wanted by employers, leading to a “shortage of highly skilled talents.”

May exports, reported earlier, tumbled 7.5% from a year earlier, reversing from the previous month’s 8.5% growth and adding to pressure on China‘s factory workforce. An official survey of manufacturers found production, exports, new orders and employment declined.

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June 14, 2023
China’s factory, consumer activity weakens in May, youth unemployment rises

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China’s factory and consumer activity weakened further in May and surging unemployment among young people in cities broke the previous month’s record as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed

A man takes a nap next to another browsing tablet computer at a cafe inside a shopping mall in Beijing on May 24, 2023. China’s consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The Associated Press

BEIJING — China’s consumer and factory activity weakened in May and record-breaking unemployment among young people in cities rose as an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls slowed.

Surveys found 20.8% of potential workers in cities aged 16-24 were unemployed, up from April’s previous record of 20.4%, the government reported Thursday.

China’s economic activity rebounded after the ruling Communist Party in December lifted controls that cut off access to major cities for weeks at a time and blocked most international travel. But consumers, uneasy about possible job losses, returned to shops and restaurants less quickly than expected.

“The domestic structural adjustment has mounting pressure and the foundation for the economic recovery is not yet solid,” the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

Retail sales rose 12.7% over a year earlier, but that was down from April’s 18.4%, which was barely half of the rate expected by forecasters. Growth in factory output decelerated to 3.5% from the previous month’s 5.6% after interest rate hikes in the United States and Europe to cool inflation depressed demand for Chinese exports.

That was in line with expectations by private sector forecasters who say the peak of China’s rebound probably has passed.

Economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%. Growth will have to accelerate in coming quarters to hit the ruling party’s annual target of “around 5%.”

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June 14, 2023
Bill to help finance a Las Vegas ballpark for Oakland A’s passes Nevada Senate, heads to Assembly

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CARSON CITY, Nev. — A stadium financing bill aimed at drawing the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas cleared a major hurdle Tuesday after being approved by the Nevada Senate, but not before lawmakers amended the measure to strengthen its benefits for the community.

The 13-8 Senate vote marks another step as the bill moves through the Democratic-controlled Legislature while reviving the national debate over public funding for private sports clubs. The bill, which has the support of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, must now be considered by the state Assembly.

A’s representatives and some Nevada tourism officials have said the measure could add to Las Vegas’ growing sports scene and act as an economic engine. But a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers have warned that such a project would bring minimal benefits when compared to the hefty public price tag.

Senate approval came after days of closed-door negotiations and a contentious hearing about the bill, which calls for contributing $380 million in public funding for the proposed $1.5 billion stadium.

Many lawmakers have criticized a lack of community benefits and the special session rush to consider the financing bill. But legislators several struck a more positive tone Tuesday, saying the amendments addressed much of their skepticism.

“I assure every Nevadan, even those of you who have concerns about this bill — I assure you that if you see where the bill started and where it is now, that there’s not a single Nevadan that won’t say this bill was much better,” said Democratic Sen. Edgar Flores.

Republican Sen. Ira Hansen was among a bipartisan group of senators still concerned about the amount of public funding that would be spend on the project.

“Honestly, if it was my own money, it’s a good deal. I would probably vote yes. But it’s not my money,” Hansen said. “It’s the taxpayers’ money, and we should do all we can to ensure the private sector does these sorts of investments.”

Amendments to the bill include diversity requirements for stadium and construction jobs as well as community service requirements for Athletics players. They also would accelerate the funneling of money generated from operations to a homelessness prevention account and make a larger share of $180 million in state transferable tax credits that are proposed for the stadium refundable to the state.

Lawmakers also inserted changes unrelated to the stadium proposal but which mirror legislation Lombardo vetoed earlier this month.

One would require all Nevada companies with at least 50 full-time employees to establish paid family and medical leave to qualify for certain tax abatements. Another would remove a provision that exempts railroad workers under state contracts from being paid the prevailing wage for similar work in the region.

Last month, Lombardo’s office introduced the stadium financing bill with less than two weeks left in the legislative session. He called lawmakers into the special session after the bill failed to pass during the regular session.

The $380 million in public funds for the stadium would mainly come from the $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes unless the county cannot pay off its bonds, as is the case with other general obligation bonds.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly-owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

The proposed 30,000-seat stadium would be the smallest in Major League Baseball.

___

Stern is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service that places journalists in newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.

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June 13, 2023
China struggles with weak post-COVID economic recovery

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SHIYAN, China — Sales of Yizhuan Automobile Co.’s trash trucks picked up after China ended anti-virus controls in December, but their growth is in low gear as managers struggle to rebuild business lost during the pandemic.

China’s economy rebounded at the start of 2023, but after a good first quarter, factory output and consumer spending are weakening. An official survey in April found a record 1 in 5 young workers in cities were unemployed.

Yizhuan’s sales are up only by single-digit percentages from last year’s depressed level, according to its deputy general manager, Yu Xiongli. The 300-employee company is in Hubei province, where the first coronavirus cases were detected in late 2019.

″It is still in the process of recovering,” Yu said. “Growth is quite slow.”

China’s economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%, but forecasters say the peak of that recovery might already be past.

Growth would need to pick up further to reach the ruling Communist Party’s target of “around 5%” for the year.

“For now, the ongoing momentum seems not that promising,” said UBS economist Zhang Ning.

The economy needs a “domestic demand rebound” with government support to boost confidence for businesses and consumers, Zhang said.

The end of restrictions that isolated cities for weeks at a time and blocked most international travel prompted hopes for a consumer boom. But retail sales are weak. Shoppers are uneasy about the economic outlook and possible job losses and are reluctant to commit to big purchases.

Retail sales in April surged 18.4% over last year’s lackluster level, but that was barely half the growth of up to 35% called for by private sector forecasts. Factory output fell 0.5% compared with March and investment growth slowed.

“I have misgivings about spending money,” said Xue Liang, who works in information technology in Beijing. ”COVID-19 and changes in the international situation have made us worry a lot.”

Manufacturing contracted faster in May, according to a survey by the national statistics agency and an industry group. New orders and export orders declined.

Exports in May tumbled 7.5% from a year ago after global consumer demand was depressed by interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to cool inflation. Exports to the United States plunged 18.2%.

That is a challenge for automakers and other manufacturers that are trying to make up for weak demand at home by selling more abroad.

Tenglong Automobile Co., which makes electric buses in the southwestern city of Xiangyang, sent salespeople to Russia, South Korea and Southeast Asia as soon as travel controls ended to try to revive orders after a three-year gap.

“Last year, our foreign customers basically didn’t come,” said Tenglong’s deputy general manager, Zhou Shengming. “But this year, we already have had several batches. In May, we had three.”

Yizhuan in Shiyan, which also sells sanitation, cargo and dump trucks to city governments and construction companies, says it exports vehicles worth about $20 million a year to Russia and Southeast Asia.

Li Yichun, who runs a bodyguard business in Beijing, said his customers are less willing to spend.

“It can be seen from my business that the economy is not recovering very well,” Li said. “A lot of clients who are bosses are not intending to spend on hiring as they did before.”

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AP video producer Wayne Zhang contributed.

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June 11, 2023
US applications for jobless benefits highest since October 2021

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week rose to its highest level since October 2021, but the labor market remains one of the healthiest parts of the U.S. economy.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that U.S. applications for jobless claims were 261,000 for the week ending June 3, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week’s 233,000. Weekly jobless claims are considered representative of U.S. layoffs.

The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly variations, rose by 7,500 to 237,250.

Despite last week’s sharp increase in filings for unemployment aid, some analysts cautioned against concluding that layoffs are picking up across the economy. They noted that the weekly figures are prone to revision and that last week’s numbers might have been distorted by the three-day Memorial Day weekend.

“The latest reading reflects a holiday-shortened week (Memorial Day), which ought to raise suspicions that the big move was more noise than signal,” said Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist for Santander. “I am eager to see next week’s reading before I draw any conclusions.”

The U.S. economy has added jobs at a furious rate since the pandemic purge of more than 20 million jobs in the spring of 2020. Americans have enjoyed unusual job security, despite the Federal Reserve’s aggressive campaign to cool the economy and labor market in its bid to stifle persistent, decades-high inflation.

In early May, the Fed raised its benchmark lending rate for the 10th time in a row. There have been scattered signs that the Fed’s actions are working, but broadly, the job market continues to favor workers.

U.S. employers added a robust 339,000 jobs last month, well above expectations. Last week’s report painted a mostly encouraging picture of the job market but there were some mixed messages. Notably, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April, the highest unemployment rate since October.

In April, employers posted 10.1 million job openings, up from 9.7 million in March and the most since January. Economists had expected vacancies to slip below 9.5 million.

Those reports, along with the jobless claims numbers, could help sway Fed officials one way or the other with regard to its next rate hike move. Most economists are predicting that the Fed will pause its rate hikes at its meeting next week, though the strong labor market could convince the central bank to stay the course with another small quarter-point increase.

The U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories. That’s a slight upgrade from its initial growth estimate of 1.1%.

Though the labor market remains strong, there have been notable high-profile layoffs recently, mostly in the technology sector, where many companies now acknowledge overhiring during the pandemic. IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitter, Lyft, LinkedIn, Spotify and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months. Amazon and Facebook parent Meta have each announced two sets of job cuts since November.

Outside the tech sector, McDonald’s, Morgan Stanley and 3M also recently announced layoffs.

Overall, 1.76 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended May 27, about 37,000 fewer than the previous week.

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June 8, 2023
The pause on student loan payments is ending. Can borrowers find room in their budgets?

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WASHINGTON (AP) — In a good month, Celina Chanthanouvong has about $200 left after rent, groceries and car insurance. That doesn’t factor in her student loans, which have been on hold since the start of the pandemic and are estimated to cost $300 a month. The pause in repayment has been a lifeline keeping the 25-year-old afloat.

“I don’t even know where I would begin to budget that money,” said Chanthanouvong, who works in marketing in San Francisco.

Now, after more than three years, the lifeline is being pulled away.

More than 40 million Americans will be on the hook for federal student loan payments starting in late August under the terms of a debt ceiling deal approved by Congress last week. The Biden administration has been targeting that timeline for months, but the deal ends any hope of a further extension of the pause, which has been prolonged while the Supreme Court decides the president’s debt cancellation.

A Republican measure overturning Biden’s student loan cancellation plan passed the Senate last week, but the president vetoed the bill Wednesday.

Without cancellation, the Education Department predicts borrowers will fall behind on their loans at historic rates. Among the most vulnerable are those who finished college during the pandemic. Millions have never had to make a loan payment, and their bills will soon come amid soaring inflation and forecasts of economic recession.

Advocates fear it will add a financial burden that younger borrowers can’t afford.

“I worry that we’re going to see levels of default of new graduates that we’ve never seen before,” said Natalia Abrams, president of the nonprofit Student Debt Crisis Center.

Chanthanouvong earned a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of California-Merced in 2019. She couldn’t find a job for a year, leaving her to rely on odd jobs for income. She found a full-time job last year, but at $70,000, her salary barely covers the cost of living in the Bay Area.

“I’m not going out. I don’t buy Starbucks every day. I’m cooking at home,” she said. “And sometimes, I don’t even have $100 after everything.”

Under President Joe Biden’s cancellation plan, Chanthanouvong would be eligible to get $20,000 of her debt erased, leaving her owing $5,000. But she isn’t banking on the relief. Instead, she invited her partner to move in and split rent. The financial pinch has them postponing or rethinking major life milestones.

“My partner and I agreed, maybe we don’t want kids,” she said. “Not because we don’t want them, but because it would be financially irresponsible for us to bring a human being into this world.”

Out of the more than 44 million federal student loan borrowers, about 7 million are below the age of 25, according to data from the Education Department. Their average loan balance is less than $14,000, lower than any other age group.

Yet borrowers with lower balances are the most likely to default. It’s fueled by millions who drop out before graduating, along with others who graduate but struggle to find good jobs. Among those who defaulted in 2021, the median loan balance was $15,300, and the vast majority had balances under $40,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Resuming student loan payments will cost U.S. consumers $18 billion a month, the investment firm Jefferies has estimated. The hit to household budgets is ill-timed for the overall economy, Jefferies says, because the United States is widely believed to be on the brink of a recession.

Despite the student loan moratorium, Americans mostly didn’t bank their savings, according to Jefferies economist Thomas Simons. So they’ll likely have to cut back on other things — travel, restaurants — to fit resumed loan payments into their budgets. Belt-tightening could hurt an economy that relies heavily on consumer spending.

Noshin Hoque graduated from Stony Brook University early in the pandemic with about $20,000 in federal student loans. Instead of testing the 2020 job market, she enrolled at a master’s program in social work at Columbia University, borrowing $34,000 more.

With the payments paused, she felt a new level of financial security. She cut costs by living with her parents in New York City and her job at a nonprofit paid enough to save money and help her parents.

She recalls splurging on a $110 polo shirt as a Father’s Day gift for her dad.

“Being able to do stuff for my parents and having them experience that luxury with me has just been such a plus,” said Hoque, who works for Young Invincibles, a nonprofit that supports student debt cancellation.

It gave her the comfort to enter a new stage of life. She got married to a recent medical school graduate, and they’re expecting their first child in November. At the same time, they’re bracing for the crush of loan payments, which will cost at least $400 a month combined. They hope to pay more to avoid interest, which is prohibited for them as practicing Muslims.

To prepare, they stopped eating at restaurants. They canceled a vacation to Italy. Money they wanted to put toward their child’s education fund will go to their loans instead.

“We’re back to square one of planning our finances,” she said. “I feel that so deeply.”

Even the logistics of making payments will be a hurdle for newer borrowers, said Rachel Rotunda, director of government relations at National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. They’ll need to find out who their loan servicers are, choose a repayment plan and learn to navigate the payment system.

“The volume of borrowers going back on the system at the same time — this has never happened before,” Rotunda said. “It’s fair to say it’s going to be bumpy.”

The Education Department has promised to make the restart of payments as smooth as possible. In a statement, the agency said it will continue to push for Biden’s debt cancellation as a way to reduce borrowers’ debt load and ease the transition.

For Beka Favela, 30, the payment pause provided independence. She earned a master’s in counseling last year, and her job as a therapist allowed her to move out of her parents’ house.

Without making payments on her $80,000 in student loans, she started saving. She bought furniture. She chipped away at credit card debt. But once the pause ends, she expects to pay about $500 a month. It will consume most of her disposable income, leaving little for surprise costs. If finances get tighter, she wonders if she’ll have to move back home.

“I don’t want to feel like I’m regressing in order to make ends meet,” said Favela, of Westmont, Illinois. “I just want to keep moving forward. I’m worried, is that going to be possible?”

___

AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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June 7, 2023
China trade tumbles in May, adding to signs economic recovery is slowing

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China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year earlier in May and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic recovery is slowing

ByJOE McDONALD AP Business Writer

Driverless trucks move shipping containers at an automated port in Tianjin, China, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year ago in May, 2023, and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic recovery is slowing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Associated Press

BEIJING — China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year earlier in May and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls is slowing as global demand weakens under pressure from higher interest rates.

Exports slid to $283.5 billion, reversing from April’s unexpectedly strong 8.5% growth, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports fell to $217.7 billion, moderating from the previous month’s 7.9% contraction. China‘s global trade surplus narrowed by 16.1% to $65.8 billion.

Trade weakness adds to downward pressure on the world’s second-largest economy following lackluster factory and consumer activity and a surge in unemployment among young people.

Factory output and consumer spending revived after controls that cut off access to major cities for weeks at a time and blocked most international travel were lifted in December. But forecasters say the peak of that rebound probably has passed.

Retail spending is recovering more slowly than expected because jittery consumers worry about the economic outlook and possible job losses. A government survey in April found a record 1 in 5 young workers in cities were unemployed.

Factory activity is contracting and employers are cutting jobs after interest rate hikes to cool inflation in the United States and Europe depressed demand for Chinese exports.

Exports to the United States tumbled 18.2% from a year earlier to $42.5 billion after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate to a 16-year high to curb surging inflation by slowing business and consumer activity.

Imports of American goods sank 9.9% to $14.3 billion. China’s politically volatile trade surplus with the United States narrowed by 21.9% to $28.1 billion.

China’s economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%. It would need to accelerate further to reach the ruling Communist Party’s official growth target of “around 5%” for the year.

For the year to date, imports fell 6.7% from the same five-month period of 2022 to just over $1 trillion, while export growth fell close to zero. Exports edged up 0.3% to $1.4 trillion.

Imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, rose 10% over a year ago to $11.3 billion. Exports to Russia surged 114% to $9.3 billion.

China is buying more Russian energy to take advantage of price cuts, helping to shore up the Kremlin’s cash flow after the United States, Europe and Japan cut off most purchases to punish Moscow for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing can buy Russian oil and gas without triggering Western sanctions. China has become Russia’s biggest export market and an important source of manufactured goods.

Also in May, China’s imports from the 27-nation European Union fell 38.6% to $24.5 billion. Exports to Europe fell 26.6% to $44.6 billion. Beijing’s trade surplus with Europe narrowed by 3% to $20.1 billion.

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June 6, 2023
China trade tumbles in May, adding to signs economic recovery is slowing

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China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year earlier in May and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic recovery is slowing

Driverless trucks move shipping containers at an automated port in Tianjin, China, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year ago in May, 2023, and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic recovery is slowing. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Associated Press

BEIJING — China’s exports fell 7.5% from a year ago in May and imports were down 4.5%, adding to signs an economic rebound following the end of anti-virus controls is slowing as global demand weakens under pressure from higher interest rates.

Exports slid to $283.5 billion, reversing from April’s unexpectedly strong 8.5% growth, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports fell to $217.7 billion, moderating from the previous month’s 7.9% contraction.

Trade weakness adds to signs China’s rebound is slowing following the December lifting of anti-virus controls that shut down industrial cities for weeks at a time and blocked most international travel.

Retail spending is lower than expected as consumers worry about the economic outlook and possible job losses. Factory activity is contracting after interest rate hikes to cool inflation in the United States and Europe depressed demand for Chinese exports.

A government survey in April found a record 1 in 5 young workers in cities were unemployed.

Economic growth accelerated to 4.5% over a year earlier in the three months ending in March from the previous quarter’s 2.9%, but forecasters say the peak of that rebound probably has passed. The ruling Communist Party’s official target growth target this year is “around 5%.”

China’s global trade surplus narrowed by 16.1% over a year ago in May to $65.8 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs.

For the year to date, imports fell 6.7% from the same five-month period of 2022 to just over $1 trillion, while export growth fell close to zero. Exports edged up 0.3% to $1.4 trillion.

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General Administration of Customs of China:

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June 6, 2023
Stock market today: Wall Street leaps, nearly escapes its bear market after strong jobs report

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NEW YORK — Stocks rushed higher Friday after a strong report on the U.S. job market suggested a recession may not be as close as Wall Street had feared.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.5% for the latest surge in a rally that’s vaulted it nearly 20% since mid-October. That put Wall Street’s main measure of health on the edge of entering what’s called a “bull market” despite a long list of challenges.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 701 points, or 2.1%, while the Nasdaq composite gained 1.1%.

The indexes got a boost after a report showed employers unexpectedly accelerated their hiring last month. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid despite much higher interest rates, and it offers a hefty pillar of support for an economy that’s begun to slow.

Areas of the market that do best when the economy is healthy led a widespread rally, including stocks of industrial companies, energy producers and banks. Exxon Mobil rose 2.3% as prices for crude oil climbed on hopes that a resilient economy would burn more fuel.

Perhaps more importantly for markets, the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report also showed a slowdown in increases for workers’ pay even as hiring strengthened.

While that may discourage workers trying to keep up with prices at the register, investors believe slower wage gains will mean less upward pressure on inflation across the economy.

That in turn could allow the Federal Reserve to take it easier on its hikes to interest rates meant to lower inflation. High rates do that by slowing the economy and hurting investment prices, and they’ve already caused pain for the banking and manufacturing industries.

The unemployment rate also rose by more than expected last month, moving up to 3.7% from a five-decade low. That implies a bit more slack in the job market and seems to conflict with the gangbusters hiring numbers, whose data comes from a separate survey.

“The reality is probably somewhere in between,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

“One thing that is striking is that if you compare aggregate payrolls today to the pre-COVID trend, we still have more than a four million job hole to fill-in,” he said. “COVID led to strange times, a strange recovery and an even stranger slowdown.”

Following the report, traders were largely expecting the Fed to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in two weeks. If it does, that would be the first time it hasn’t hiked rates in more than a year.

A pause on rate hikes would offer some breathing room for an economy that’s already seen manufacturing contract sharply for months. Higher rates have also hurt many smaller and mid-sized banks, in part because customers have pulled deposits in search of higher interest at money-market funds.

Several high-profile bank failures since March have shaken the market, leading Wall Street to hunt for other possible weak links. Several under the heaviest scrutiny rallied following the jobs report. PacWest Bancorp leaped 14.1%, for example, to trim its loss for the year to 66.6%.

But Fed officials have also warned recently that a pause on rate hikes in June wouldn’t necessarily mean the end to hikes.

Traders are increasingly expecting the Fed to follow up a June pause with a July hike to interest rates, according to data from CME Group. That helped push Treasury yields higher.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 3.69% from 3.60% late Thursday. It helps set rates for mortgages and other important loans.

The two-year Treasury yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed action, jumped to 4.50% from 4.34%.

Also helping to support Wall Street was the Senate giving final approval late Thursday to a deal that will allow the U.S. government to avoid a potentially disastrous default on its debt. The move was widely expected by investors, and the deal moves next to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Lululemon Athletica jumped 11.3% after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected, crediting accelerating sales trends in China and other factors. It also raised its forecast for results over the full year.

MongoDB soared 28% after the database company reported bigger profit than expected. The company said it’s confident it will benefit from the wave of enthusiasm around artificial intelligence that’s swept the business world.

A frenzy around AI has helped the S&P 500 climb to its highest levels since August. Nvidia, whose chips are helping to power the move into AI, has soared 169% this year, for example.

Outsized gains for Nvidia and a small group of other stocks have been the main reason the S&P 500 has gotten so close to escaping its bear market, which saw a drop of 25.4% in nine months from early January 2022 into October.

Just a couple handfuls of stocks have driven the bulk of the gains for the S&P 500, and critics say that means the index may not be as strong as it appears. Even though the S&P 500 is up 11.5% for the year so far, nearly half the stocks in the index have lost ground amid worries about falling profits, still-high inflation and much higher interest rates.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 61.35 Friday to 4,282.37. The Dow climbed 701.19 to 33,762.76, and the Nasdaq gained 139.78 to 13,240.77.

——

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Joe McDonald contributed.

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June 2, 2023
US hiring jumped last month. So did unemployment. Here’s what that says about the economy

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WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of enduring strength in an economy that the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool.

Friday’s report from the government reflected the job market’s resilience after more than a year of aggressive interest rate increases by the Fed. Many industries, from construction to restaurants to health care, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, the report painted a mostly encouraging picture of the job market. Yet there were some mixed messages in the May figures. Notably, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. It’s the highest unemployment rate since October. (The government compiles the unemployment data using a different survey than the one used to calculate job gains, and the two surveys sometimes conflict.)

IS THE LABOR MARKET AS STRONG AS THE GAIN OF 339,000 JOBS SUGGESTS?

Probably not. In May, employers added the most jobs since January. So the overall picture is an encouraging one. Yet there are signs that hiring is cooling from the super-heated levels of the past two years.

For one thing, the length of the average work week declined, to 34.3 hours from 34.4 in April. That is a seemingly small drop, but economists said it’s equivalent to cutting several hundred thousand jobs. It means that, on average, weekly paychecks will be slightly smaller. The average work week is down from 34.6 hours a year ago.

Hourly wage growth also dipped in May, evidence that many businesses feel less pressure to dangle higher pay to find and keep workers. Average hourly pay increased 4.3% from a year earlier. That’s down from gangbusters gains of nearly 6% a year ago.

And the rise in the unemployment rate partly reflected higher layoffs. This suggested that not everyone who lost jobs in recent high-profile layoffs by banks, tech firms and media companies has found new work.

IS THE ECONOMY HEADED FOR A RECESSION?

Not likely anytime soon. The strong, steady job growth of the past several months shows that the economy remains in solid shape despite the Fed’s interest rate hikes, which have made borrowing much costlier for businesses and consumers. A recession, if one occurs, is likely further away than many economists had previously thought.

“As long as the economy continues to produce above 200,000 jobs per month, this economy simply is not going to slip into recession,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consulting firm RSM.

More hiring translates into more Americans earning paychecks, a trend that suggests that consumer spending — the principal driver of U.S. economic growth — will keep growing.

DOES THAT MEAN THE ECONOMY IS IN THE CLEAR?

Not necessarily. Some cracks in the economy’s foundations have emerged. Home sales have tumbled. A measure of factory activity showed that manufacturing has contracted for seven straight months.

And consumers are showing signs of straining to keep up with higher prices. The proportion of Americans who are struggling to stay current on their credit card and auto loan debt rose in the first three months of this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Sales at several retail companies, including discount chain Dollar General and department store Macy’s, have weakened. That indicates that lower-income consumers, in particular, are feeling squeezed by high inflation.

And the threat of further interest rate hikes by the Fed, in its continuing drive to fight inflation, always looms. The Fed’s rate increases have elevated the costs of mortgages, auto loans, credit card use and business borrowing.

The Fed has projected that its rate hikes will weaken the economy and raise unemployment, as well as lower inflation. Still, Chair Jerome Powell has held out hope that the central bank can significantly slow price growth without causing a deep recession.

“The continued strength in employment pushes back the start of a prospective recession but does not eliminate that likelihood,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide. “If the economy remains too hot to meaningfully slow inflation, the Fed will simply raise rates higher, still a path towards a downturn.”

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN FOR THE FED’S APPROACH TO INTEREST RATES?

Top Fed officials signaled earlier this week that they plan to forgo a rate increase at their June 13-14 meeting. This would allow them time to assess how their previous rate hikes have affected the inflation pressures underlying the economy.

The Fed has increased its key rate by a substantial 5 percentage points since March 2022, to about 5.1%, the highest level in 16 years. Higher rates typically take time to affect job growth and inflation.

Some Fed officials might be unnerved by the burst of hiring in May and push for another rate hike this month. But many economists say last month’s rise in unemployment and slight decline in wage growth will likely be sufficient signs of a slowdown for the Fed to leave rates alone.

WHY DID THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISE?

The government’s jobs report is derived from two separate surveys that are conducted each month. One survey covers businesses, the other households. The survey of businesses is used to calculate the job gain (or loss). The household survey, which asks people if they’ve done work for pay in the past month, determines the unemployment rate.

In May, the surveys diverged: Households reported an actual loss of jobs, while the survey of businesses found a sharp gain. Though the two surveys can diverge as they did for May, over time they generally produce similar results. The survey of businesses is larger and is generally regarded as more reliable, though the household survey often does a better job of capturing turning points in the economy.

One key reason for the divergence is that, according to the household survey, the number of self-employed people fell by 369,000 from April to May. Self-employed workers are counted in the survey of households but not in the survey of businesses.

Drew Matus, chief economist at MetLife Investment Management, cautioned that the higher unemployment rate for May could signal weakness ahead. It suggests that companies are becoming more cautious about hiring.

Joblessness rose last month for teenagers, the disabled and people with less education, Matus noted. That was a sign that companies were cutting workers with fewer skills and less experience, a move that often precedes recessions.

“Before it was a rising tide lifts all boats, and now it seems like the boats have gotten smaller and firms are deciding who gets to sit in them,” Matus said.

WHO IS DOING THE HIRING?

The job gains in May were widespread across the economy. Companies in construction, shipping and warehousing, restaurants and hotels, government, health care and in such professions as engineering and architecture all added workers.

Many of those sectors have been struggling to restore their staffing to pre-pandemic levels. Restaurants, for example, are seeing strong demand yet still have fewer workers overall than they did before the pandemic.

One new worker, Mikala Slotnick, was hired as a barista last week by Red Bay Coffee and by Wednesday was working in their Berkeley, California, location. Slotnick, 21, has previously worked at large coffee chains but preferred Red Bay because it focuses on working directly with coffee growers overseas.

“It seems like they care more about what they’re producing, versus the money,” she said. “I think that’s just way better.”

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AP video journalist Haven Daley in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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June 2, 2023
US employers added a surprisingly strong 339,000 jobs in May in a sign of economic health

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WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers stepped up their hiring in May, adding a robust 339,000 jobs, well above expectations and evidence of enduring strength in an economy that the Federal Reserve is desperately trying to cool.

Friday’s report from the government reflected the job market’s resilience after more than a year of rapid interest rate increases by the Fed. Many industries, from construction to restaurants to health care, are still adding jobs to keep up with consumer demand and restore their workforces to pre-pandemic levels.

Yet there were some mixed messages in the jobs figures, which also showed that the unemployment rate rose to 3.7%, from a five-decade low of 3.4% in April. The government compiles the unemployment data with a different survey than the one used to calculate job gains. The two surveys can sometimes conflict.

The length of the average work week also declined, and wage growth cooled, resulting in a jobs report that economists said painted an unusually complicated picture of the employment market. Still, the overall picture was an encouraging one.

“Job growth remain robust in what is undeniably a historically tight labor market,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at consulting firm RSM. “As long as the economy continues to produce above 200,000 jobs per month this economy simply is not going to slip into recession.”

In Friday’s report, the government sharply revised up its estimate of job growth in March and April by an additional 93,000 jobs, underscoring the labor market’s durability.

Average hourly pay rose 11 cents to $33.44, up 4.3% from a year ago. Wages continue to grow faster than the 3% annual pace before the pandemic but are down from a nearly 6% rate last year.

Even with the huge job gain, the slowdown in wages and shorter work week are likely enough to keep the Fed from raising its key interest rate at its next meeting later this month, economists said. Having imposed 10 straight rate hikes since March 2022, the Fed is widely expected to skip a rate increase when it meets later this month, though it may resume its increases after that.

Last months’ increase in the unemployment rate partly reflected higher layoffs, suggesting that not all those who lost jobs in recent cuts by tech companies, banks and media companies have found new work.

The hiring data, though, is typically considered more reliable over time because it is based on a larger survey of companies. The unemployment rate is derived from a smaller survey of households.

Drew Matus, chief economist at MetLife Investment Management, cautioned that underneath the big headline job gain, there were signs that companies were turning more cautious about hiring. He noted that joblessness rose last month for teenagers, the disabled and people with less education. That was a sign that companies were cutting workers with fewer skills and less experience.

“Before it was a rising tide lifts all boats, and now it seems like the boats have gotten smaller and firms are deciding who gets to sit in them,” Matus said.

In May, construction companies added 25,000 jobs, mostly in commercial construction and engineering. Health care providers gained 75,000 jobs. And in professional and business services, a category that includes white-collar jobs such as accountants, engineers, and architects, 64,000 positions were added.

Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have made clear that they regard strong hiring as likely to keep inflation persistently high because employers tend to raise pay in a tight job market. Many of these companies then pass on their higher wage costs to customers in the form of higher prices.

The May jobs report adds to other recent evidence that the economy is still managing to chug ahead despite long-standing predictions that a recession was near. Consumers ramped up their spending in April, even after adjusting for inflation, and sales of new homes rose despite higher mortgage rates.

Some cracks in the economy’s foundations, though, have begun to emerge. Home sales have tumbled. A measure of factory activity indicated that it has contracted for seven straight months.

And consumers are showing signs of straining to keep up with higher prices. The proportion of Americans who are struggling to stay current on their credit card and auto loan debt rose in the first three months of this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Fed officials are expected to forgo a rate increase at their June 13-14 meeting to allow time to assess how their previous rate hikes have affected the inflation pressures underlying the economy. Higher rates typically take time to affect growth and hiring. The Fed wants to avoid raising its key rate to the point where it would slow borrowing and spending so much as to cause a deep recession.

The U.S. economy as a whole has been gradually weakening. It grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March, after 2.6% annual growth from October through December and 3.2% from July through September.

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June 2, 2023
Stock market today: Wall Street up ahead of May jobs report and chance for a rate hike pause

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Wall Street pointed higher Friday ahead of a U.S. jobs market update, one day after U.S. lawmakers approved a deal to avert a government debt default.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% before the bell.

Late Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to an agreement to raise the amount the government can borrow in exchange for spending cuts.

The widely expected step removed the threat of default that roiled markets last week before President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated a compromise.

While the U.S. debt agreement was positive for the markets, investors are more concerned about whether the economy will fall into a recession before inflation recedes enough to convince the Federal Reserve to ease off rate hikes.

A report Thursday showed fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected, while another suggested employers increased their payrolls last month by more than forecast.

That’s good news for workers and the overall economy, but the Fed worries a strong job market could also keep pressure up on inflation.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rallied 1% on Thursday after data showed manufacturing and retail activity weakening. That added to hopes the Fed might decide upward pressure on prices is easing and more rate hikes can be postponed or scaled down.

“Skipping a rate hike” at this month’s Fed meeting would let policymakers “see more data before making decisions,” said a board member, Philip Jefferson. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, made similar comments.

Following those reports, traders were largely betting on the Fed to hold rates steady, though Jefferson also said that wouldn’t necessarily mean the end to hikes.

The statements “reignited the prospect of skipping a hike” after strong jobs data last week fed fears of more increases, said James Knightley of ING in a report.

However, if U.S. government data Friday show the job market still is strong, that “could easily swing things back in favor of a hike,” Knightley said.

At midday in Europe, the FTSE 100 in London was up 1%, the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 1.2% and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 1.1%.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,230.06 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 1.2% to 31,524.22. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 4% to 18,949.94.

The Kospi in Seoul rose 1.2% to 2,601.36 and the S&P ASX 200 in Sydney was 0.5% higher at 7,145.10.

India’s Sensex gained 0.2% to 62,521.46. New Zealand declined while Bangkok advanced. Markets in Singapore and Indonesia were closed for holidays.

In the energy market, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.20 to $71.29 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.01 on Thursday to $70.10. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced $1.18 to $75.46 per barrel in London. It gained $1.68 the previous session to $74.28.

The dollar gained to 138.94 yen from Thursday’s 138.86 yen. The euro edged down to $1.0760 from $1.0762.

On Thursday, the Dow gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3%.

——

McDonald reported from Beijing; Ott reported from Silver Spring, Md.

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June 2, 2023
Know any airplane mechanics? A wave of retirements is leaving some US industries desperate to hire

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WASHINGTON — Kwasi Bandoh, a senior recruiter for an airline, stood before a group of aviation mechanic students at their graduation ceremony last month and congratulated them for all having jobs.

As some of the students began nudging each other, Bandoh realized that perhaps not every one of them had already been hired.

“Who doesn’t have a job?” Bandoh demanded, surveying the 15 graduates before him at the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics’ training facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. “Who doesn’t? Because I have a job for you.”

The crowd of about 70 friends and relatives, gathered in a hangar where the students had been trained, laughed appreciatively. Fourteen of the 15 graduates did have jobs, and the only one who didn’t had an interview lined up for the next day.

As happy as the moment was for the graduates, it epitomized the struggles of recruiters like Bandoh, who are desperately seeking mechanics for the airlines, plane manufacturers and repair shops that need them. Most of their existing mechanics are aging, and demand for travel is growing.

Across the U.S. economy, other industries, too, face the same formidable challenge: Replenishing a workforce diminished by a surge of retirements that began during the pandemic and has continued since. It’s a growing problem in such fields as construction, manufacturing, nursing and some professional industries like accounting.

Since 2019, the proportion of retirees in the U.S. population has risen from 18% to nearly 20%, according to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — equivalent to about 3.5 million fewer workers. And the trend seems sure to accelerate: The percentage of workers who are 55 or older is nearly 24%, up from only about 15% two decades ago.

The surge of retirements, along with a slowdown in immigration that began during the pandemic, are the primary factors behind the labor shortages that continue to bedevil some employers.

The aging workforce also helps explain the confounding nature of the economy right now. Even as the Federal Reserve has relentlessly pumped up interest rates to fight high inflation, hiring has remained surprisingly robust. Regardless of where interest rates are, many employers simply need to replace people who have left.

Job growth has been stronger, in fact, than economic growth would suggest. The economy expanded at a mediocre 1.3% annual rate in the first three months of 2023. Yet hiring was robust, averaging nearly 300,000 jobs a month. In April, the unemployment rate reached a half-century low of 3.4%. On Friday, the government will issue the May employment report, which economists predict will show another solid gain of about 190,000 jobs.

Companies that must fill jobs tend to raise pay to attract and keep workers — a trend that can fuel inflation as those same employers typically raise their prices to cover their higher labor costs. That dynamic is complicating the Fed’s efforts to tame inflation.

In the airline industry, more than one-third of mechanics are between 55 and 64, according to government data. Fewer than one in 10 are under 30.

“Everybody’s getting ready to retire, and not enough people are coming in to take the jobs,” said Mike Myers, a maintenance manager for Piedmont Airlines, in Hagerstown, a regional feeder for American Airlines.

The new graduates of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics have been awed by how much they’re in demand. One of them, Will Gower, said he weighed multiple job offers at nearly twice the $15-an-hour wage he had earned at the retail job he held while in school.

“It was almost overwhelming how many companies were throwing jobs at you,” said Gower, 21. “Anywhere there’s an airport you can go work.”

Next month, Gower will join Commute Air, Bandoh’s company, along with three of his classmates, and will receive further training in Houston.

In the past year, the air travel industry has hired roughly 45,000 people, enlarging its workforce by 9%, to more than a half-million. That’s triple the pace of the U.S. economy’s overall hiring.

United Airlines has said it plans to hire 15,000 workers this year and more in coming years. It expects to add 2,300 pilots, in part to offset about 500 retirements. Kate Gebo, United’s executive vice president of human resources, said she foresees a shortage of airplane mechanics, with up to half of United’s mechanics already eligible to retire.

In the construction industry, the proportion of workers ages 55 and older doubled from 2003 to 2020, to nearly one-quarter, according to the government.

Anirban Basu, chief economist for the Associated Builders and Contractors trade group, said that in addition to aging, industries like aviation maintenance and construction share another challenge: Fewer young people want to take jobs in what are often perceived as less-secure, blue-collar work.

When the now-retiring baby boomers began working, Basu said, “there was the notion that being a blue-collar tradesperson was a solid and secure path to prosperity.” But as factories shut down across the country, “the notion increasingly became that for one to become part of the American middle class, one would likely need to have more formal education, namely, a bachelor’s degree.”

The result, he said, is an economy short of factory workers, backhoe operators, welders, electricians and other skilled trade workers.

If there’s one trend that might ease, if not solve, the problem it’s that Americans below retirement age have been re-entering the job market, likely drawn by steady hiring and higher pay levels. The proportion of these adults who either have a job or are looking for one now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

Yet for now, an aging workforce remains a problem even for some white-collar jobs, particularly accounting. About three-quarters of accountants are “nearing 60” and approaching retirement, according to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.

Tom Hood, an executive vice president of the association, said the industry is finding it hard to attract young college graduates. Many of them prefer data science or finance, while accounting struggles with a stuffier, more old-fashioned image.

“We’re getting squeezed from the older part and the younger part as well,” Hood said.

Nela Richardson, chief economist at the payroll provider ADP, said research shows that countries that have many retirees who spend money and consume and have fewer people working typically face higher inflation. In those countries, demand for goods and services tends to exceed the supply.

“This is the missing piece in terms of our dialogue about, can the Fed drive inflation back down to” its 2% target? Richardson said.

Some economists have said they worry that the job market’s resilience, and the resulting fear that inflation will remain high, will lead the Fed to send its benchmark rate even higher, which could derail the economy and cause a recession.

Gower, who is from Covington, Louisiana, near New Orleans, isn’t exactly worried about a recession. His new job as a line mechanic at Commute Air will pay $30 an hour to start, plus higher wages for night shifts.

“We’ve all got great futures ahead of us,” he said.

Brian Prentice, a partner at the OliverWyman consulting firm, estimates that the aviation industry will endure a shortage of up to 18,000 mechanics this year — about 12% of current staffing levels. It will likely boost pay levels across the industry.

Mindy Pavlonis, associate director of career services for the aeronautics institute, noted that entry-level pay has jumped from about $18 an hour in 2018 to the upper-$20s an hour now.

More financial aid for young people to receive training can help address the worker shortfall, Prentice said, a benefit that some airlines are starting to provide. Myers, the manager at Piedmont, said his company now offers scholarships that pay full tuition to schools like the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. In return, the student must work at Piedmont for two years.

They will even set up new students with a $6,500 tool box, he added.

Erik Hansen, a lobbyist for the U.S. Travel Association, says his group is pushing for more funding for a federal development program that would subsidize aviation maintenance training schools and support more outreach to high schools to promote the industry as a career.

Without more workers, he said, further flight delays will inevitably result.

“You have an airplane that has a mechanical issue, and it needs to be fixed before it’s turned around,” Hansen said. “It takes longer for the mechanics to get to it. There’s going to be a flight delay. So it’s absolutely something we need to address.”

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June 1, 2023
Debt ceiling deal: What’s in, what’s out of the bill to avert US default

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WASHINGTON — The details of the deal between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were released Sunday in the form of a 99-page bill that would suspend the nation’s debt limit through 2025 to avoid a federal default while limiting government spending.

The Democratic president and Republican speaker are trying to win over lawmakers to the plan in time to avert a default that would shake the global economy. But Congress will be scrutinizing and debating the legislation, which also includes provisions to fund medical care for veterans, change work requirements for some recipients of government aid and streamline environmental reviews for energy projects.

McCarthy said the House will vote on the legislation Wednesday, giving the Senate time to consider it before June 5, the date when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States could default on its debt obligations if lawmakers did not act in time.

Some hardline conservatives have expressed early concerns that the compromise does not cut future deficits enough, while Democrats have been worried about proposed changes to work requirements in programs such as food stamps.

With the details of the deal now clear, here’s what’s in and out:

TWO-YEAR DEBT LIMIT SUSPENSION, SPENDING LIMITS

The agreement would keep nondefense spending roughly flat in the 2024 fiscal year and increase it by 1% the following year, as well as suspend the debt limit until January 2025 — past the next presidential election.

For the next fiscal year, the bill matches Biden’s proposed defense budget of $886 billion and allots $704 billion for nondefense spending.

The bill also requires Congress to approve 12 annual spending bills or face a snapback to spending limits from the previous year, which would mean a 1% cut.

The legislation aims to limit federal budget growth to 1% for the next six years, but that provision would not be enforceable starting in 2025.

Overall, the White House estimates that the plan would reduce government spending by at least $1 trillion, but official calculations have not yet been released.

VETERANS CARE

The agreement would fully fund medical care for veterans at the levels included in Biden’s proposed 2024 budget blueprint, including a fund dedicated to veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances or environmental hazards. Biden sought $20.3 billion for the toxic exposure fund in his budget.

UNSPENT COVID MONEY

The agreement would rescind about $30 billion in unspent coronavirus relief money that Congress approved through previous bills. It claws back unobligated money from dozens of federal programs that received aid during the pandemic, including rental assistance, small business loans and broadband for rural areas.

The legislation protects pandemic funding for veterans’ medical care, housing assistance, the Indian Health Service, and some $5 billion for a program focused on rapidly developing the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

IRS FUNDING

Republicans targeted money that the IRS was allotted last year to crack down on tax fraud. The bill bites into some IRS funding, rescinding $1.4 billion.

WORK REQUIREMENTS

The agreement would expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps — a longtime Republican priority. But the changes are pared down from the House-passed debt ceiling bill.

Work requirements already exist for most able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The bill would phase in higher age limits, bringing the maximum age to 54 by 2025. But the provision expires, bringing the maximum age back down to age 49 five years later, in 2030.

Democrats also won some new expanded benefits for veterans, homeless people and young people aging out of foster care. That would also expire in 2030, according to the agreement.

The agreement would also make it slightly harder for states to waive work requirements for SNAP for certain individuals. Current law allows states to issue some exemptions to the work rules on a discretionary basis, but limits how many people can be exempted. The agreement would lower the number of exemptions that a state can issue and curb states’ ability to carry over the number of exemptions they can hand out from month to month.

The agreement would also make changes to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, which gives cash aid to families with children. While not going as far as the House bill had proposed, the deal would make adjustments to a credit that allows states to require fewer recipients to work, updating and readjusting the credit to make it harder for states to avoid.

SPEEDING UP ENERGY PROJECTS

The deal puts in place changes in the National Environmental Policy Act for the first time in nearly four decades that would designate “a single lead agency” to develop and schedule environmental reviews, in hopes of streamlining the process. It also simplifies some of the requirements for environmental reviews, including placing length limitations on environmental assessments and impact statements.

Agencies will be given one year to complete environmental reviews, and projects that are deemed to have complex impacts on the environment will need to be reviewed within two years.

The bill also gives special treatment to the Mountain Valley Pipeline — a West Virginia natural gas pipeline championed by Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito — by approving all its outstanding permit requests.

STUDENT LOANS

Republicans have long sought to reel back the Biden administration’s efforts to provide student loan relief and aid to millions of borrowers during the coronavirus pandemic. While the GOP proposal to rescind the White House’s plan to waive $10,000 to $20,000 in debt for nearly all borrowers failed to make it into the package, Biden agreed to put an end to the pause on student loan repayment.

The pause in student loan repayments would end in the final days of August.

The fate of student loan relief, meanwhile, will be decided at the Supreme Court, which is dominated 6-3 by its conservative wing. During oral arguments in the case, several of the justices expressed deep skepticism about the legality of Biden’s plan. A decision is expected before the end of June.

WHAT’S LEFT OUT

House Republicans passed legislation last month that would have created new work requirements for some Medicaid recipients, but that was left out of the final agreement. The idea faced stiff opposition from the White House and congressional Democrats, who said it would lead to fewer people able to afford food or health care without actually increasing the number of people in the workforce.

Also absent from the final deal is the GOP proposal to repeal many of the clean energy tax credits Democrats passed in party-line votes last year to boost the production and consumption of clean energy. McCarthy and Republicans have argued that the tax breaks “distort the market and waste taxpayer money.”

The White House has defended the tax credits as resulting in hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector investments, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

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May 28, 2023
Iowa governor signs bill loosening child labor laws

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Iowa teenagers could work more jobs and for longer hours under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds

BySCOTT McFETRIDGE and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa teenagers could work more jobs and for longer hours under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The Republican governor signed the law after it was approved by the Legislature earlier in May with only Republican support. Several states are embracing a rollback of child labor laws in response to complaints from business owners that they can’t find enough workers. Iowa’s April unemployment rate was 2.7%.

“With this legislation Iowa joins 20 other states in providing tailored, common sense labor provisions that allow young adults to develop their skills in the workforce,” Reynolds said in a statement.

Child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.

Legislators removed language in earlier versions of the bill that would have let state officials allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work in jobs now banned for minors. Some potentially dangerous work such as mining and meatpacking also would be off limits to those younger than 18.

The new law would let 16- and 17-year-olds work in areas such as manufacturing as long as it was in a work-based learning program given an exemption by the Iowa Department of Education or Iowa Workforce Development. Those jobs could potentially mean the teens would operate power saws or join in demolition.

Under the new rules, 16- and 17-year-olds also could serve alcohol in restaurants as long as business owners have written permission from the worker’s parent or guardian. Two adult employees would need to be in an area where the children served drinks, and restaurant employees would need to complete sexual harassment prevention training.

The law would also let children younger than 16 work up to six hours a day while school is in session. They previously could work no more than four hours.

Reynolds on Friday signed a dozen bills into law ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, including high-profile legislation that bans instruction on gender identity from classrooms through grade six, and books that include sex acts from school libraries.

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May 26, 2023
More Americans apply for jobless benefits but labor market remains tight

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U.S. applications for jobless claims rose slightly last week but remain at healthy levels with companies reticent to let go of employees in a tight labor market.

The number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the week ending May 20 rose by 4,000 to 229,000 from 225,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s number was revised down by a significant 17,000.

The weekly claims numbers are broadly as representative of the number of U.S. layoffs.

The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations, was unchanged at 231,750 after the previous week’s number was revised down by 12,500. Analysts have pointed to a sustained increase in the four-week averages as a sign that layoffs are accelerating, but are reluctant to predict that a spike in layoffs is imminent.

Overall, 1.8 million people were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended May 13, about 5,000 more than the previous week.

Since the pandemic purge of millions of jobs three years ago, the U.S. economy has added jobs at a breakneck pace and Americans have enjoyed unusual job security. That’s despite interest rates that have been rising for more than a year and fears of a looming recession.

Early this month, the Fed raised its benchmark lending rate for the 10th time in a row in its bid to cool the economy and bring down four-decade high inflation. Though the labor market still favors workers, there have been some recent indications that the Fed’s policy actions are working.

In April, U.S. employers added a healthy 253,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4%, matching a 54-year low. But the figures for February and March were revised lower by 149,000 jobs, potentially signaling that the Fed’s rate policy strategy is starting to cool the job market.

The government also recently reported that U.S. job openings fell in March to the lowest level in nearly two years.

The Fed is hoping to achieve a so-called soft landing — lowering growth just enough to bring inflation under control without causing a recession. Economists are skeptical, with many expecting the U.S. to enter a recession later this year.

Markets are hoping that Fed hits pause on its rate hikes at its next meeting. Minutes from the Fed’s last meeting showed that Fed officials were split on whether to raise its benchmark borrowing rate.

Earlier Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. economy grew at a lackluster 1.3% annual rate from January through March as businesses wary of an economic slowdown trimmed their inventories. That’s a slight upgrade from its initial estimate of 1.1%.

There have been an increasing number of high-profile layoffs recently, mostly in the technology sector, where many companies now acknowledge overhiring during the pandemic. IBM, Microsoft, Salesforce, Twitter, Lyft, LinkedIn and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months. Amazon and Facebook parent Meta have each announced two sets of job cuts since November.

But it’s not just the tech sector that’s trimming staff. McDonald’s, Morgan Stanley and 3M also announced layoffs recently.

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May 25, 2023