Episode summary
US Jobs Report Eases Fed Hike Worries | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Mike McKee, Kathy Bostjancic, Nathan Dean, Michael Lohan, Yannick Benjamin
Summary
The episode centered on a softer-than-expected US jobs report, with September payrolls rising by 29,000, wage growth slowing to 3% year over year, and unemployment edging up to 4.2%. Mike McKee argued that the report was not a sign of collapse, but it did reduce pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise rates immediately, since the labor market has cooled enough that the Fed can focus more on inflation data due in mid-October. Kathy Bostjancic said the data still pointed to a solid labor market and noted that only 20,000 to 30,000 jobs a month may now be enough to keep unemployment steady.
The discussion broadened into rates, consumer stress, and the political outlook ahead of the midterms. Nathan Dean said a gridlocked Congress would likely push President Trump toward more executive action, more tariff threats, and deregulation efforts, especially in financial services and crypto. He also said tariff refunds are still working through the system and that AI spending remains protected from near-term federal restrictions.
The episode also covered Ireland’s push to attract investment while tying data-center growth to renewable power commitments, with Michael Lohan describing a policy framework that requires large energy users to support decarbonization. The final segment turned to Yannick Benjamin’s Wine on Wheels, a charity event supporting people with disabilities through hospitality and wine fundraising.
Key takeaways
- Mike McKee said the weak jobs report makes an October Fed hike less urgent, though not impossible if inflation surprises higher.
- Kathy Bostjancic said payroll growth of 20,000 to 30,000 a month may now be enough to keep unemployment steady.
- Nathan Dean said a divided Congress would likely push President Trump toward executive actions, tariffs, and deregulation rather than big legislation.
- Nathan Dean said AI spending is unlikely to face meaningful federal restrictions before 2029.
- Michael Lohan said Ireland is linking new data-center investment to renewable-energy commitments and long-term grid planning.
Notable quotes
“the job creation wasn't as strong as we thought and the average hourly earnings were down on a year-over-year basis to 3%”
“what it does is take it out of consideration for them. They can focus on the inflation numbers”
“expect a flurry of proposals between now and the first half of next year, which primarily is impacting financial services and crypto”
“You can build it, but here's what you have to do for for every large for any large energy user in i.e. data centers, they have to give those commitments”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenbec.
Hey folks. Um yeah, we got to talk about one of the key economic reports of the week. Yes, it was inflation, but it was also the monthly jobs report.
The data we had the US adding fewer jobs than expected in September. We saw wage growth slowing um signaling some caution among employers amid rising costs. Unemployment rate rising to 4.2% partly reflecting a growing workforce.
and also the two previous months were revised downward. So, is the job market as strong as we thought it was?
I think it's a good question. We're going to dig into that. We also though want to explain a little bit about what this means for maybe the US yield trajectory on that.
We did hear from Kevin Hasset, director of the White House National Economic Council, president's uh chief economic adviser. Here's what he had to say to our Bloomberg team of Mike McKe and Danny Burgerer earlier today. longer rates uh perhaps have some upside because of real returns being so high but in the end that's uh very very good uh for the economy because you have to look at the whole thing and so the only reason those log rates would go up it's a general equilibrium thing is that the economy is so strong
All right the economy is so strong according to Kevin Hasset well depending what he's talking about in terms of rel relations to where rates go Kevin Hasset of course director of the white house national economic council talking with Danny Berger and Michael McKe Mike joining us right now he's of course Bloomberg TV uh and radio international economics and policy correspondent joining us here.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- us jobs report
- fed hike worries
- nonfarm payrolls
- wage growth
- unemployment rate
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Nationwide
Watch the episode
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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