Financial journalist Jane King, founder of LilaMax Media, joins Broadcast Retirement Network to break down the latest jobs report—and why the numbers aren’t as bad as they seem. The U.S. lost 23,000 jobs last month, but most cuts came from local government and education, while manufacturing added jobs and unemployment held at 4.1%. Jane explains why Wall Street sees this weaker report as a positive: it likely takes a September rate hike off the table.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Joining me now is Jane King. She’s a financial journalist.
She’s also the founder of Lila Max Media. Jane, it’s always a pleasure to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Great to be with you again.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
And you have a great, I gotta tell you, of all the anchors on all the major networks, including yourself, you’ve got the best view in the New York Stock Exchange. How did you land that, Jane?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
I love it. Well, you know, I was down on the floor, which could be fun, but also loud, and you never know what you’re gonna get down there. And so a brokerage firm took over my spot, and I was like, hey, can I go to the balcony?
And they were like, yeah. So I’m up here, which is, I do have a great view, but it does get kind of lonely. And you have to wait for a while to go to the bathroom, because it’s an elevator and everything.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Oh, wow. Okay, well, you need to work. You would think the New York Stock Exchange would invest heavily in multi-level bathrooms.
Okay, Jane. I don’t know, we’re just going in the wrong direction. But you’ve had a few days to look at the jobs report, to see reaction.
Let’s talk about this, because the jobs report definitely came in under what was expected. What’s the reaction on Wall Street? What’s your reaction?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Well, so the numbers of the U.S. lost 23,000 jobs last month. Usually we kind of see the summer doldrums anyway, but this was worse than expected. A large part of the job cuts were in local government and education.
In fact, about 50,000 job cuts there. Manufacturing also actually added some jobs last month. So that was a bit of a bright spot.
So the fact that it was in government maybe doesn’t quite pack the same punch as it would if it were in the private sector. The unemployment rate went down 4.1%. So I think, you know, like Wall Street always looks at these things. What does this mean for the Fed?
Raising rates, lowering rates. You know, the fact that the job number was weak takes away the chance that there’ll be an interest rate hike in September. So Wall Street actually seeing it as a bit of a positive, this weaker number.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting. When we have talked about this in the past, I am always very interested or more interested in the private sector. Not that I want people to lose their job.
I don’t want people to lose their job. Of course not. But these job losses in state and local government education, is it artificial intelligence related?
Because everyone is paranoid that AI is going to take jobs in the private sector. But I guess conceivably it could take jobs in education and government as well.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Yeah, they could. Although I haven’t been hearing that as much. Like what you’ve heard, the AI job cuts have been mainly in the tech sector so far.
So a lot of software companies. We’ve heard from, you know, just PayPal, some other companies have said recently that they’re cutting jobs and they’re replacing them with AI. And Challenger Brain Christmas said that the tech sector still is bearing the brunt of job cuts.
And in fact, there was an article just recently in the Wall Street Journal about software as a service companies, which were just doing so well 10 years ago, are all of a sudden now kind of scrambling and regrouping because AI can write code and they don’t need them as much. So there is a lot of concern about that. There was also another study about college students and how they’re just unsure what kind of job market they’re going to face.
So when they graduate, and some have changed majors or maybe taken some more AI classes, just kind of make sure that they’re ready for this, what some people think is like the next industrial revolution in artificial intelligence.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, and AI can even hack now, Jane. I mean, from what I read, some of these models, these more advanced models were able to hack in.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
There have been a few times that this has happened. These agents will like hack. I saw this great interview with, I think it was the CEO of CrowdStrike, who said AI is the defender and the attacker.
And so it’s like a whole new world. And it’s just, you need humans to kind of stay ahead of it. But it’s just going to be an interesting thing that we face because it feels like it’s just every day, there’s something new with AI and what’s happening.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
You know, Jane, I just prepped. I’ve been prepping for AI. I just watched The Terminator from 1984, James Cameron with Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I think I’m ready to go in case Cyberdyne Systems takes over. Let me ask you about the war in Iran. Lots of talk about a deal.
I feel like this has gone on for months. What’s been the, you know, but yet the market, and I want to talk about the market. The market has been going up, up, up.
S&P 500, the NASDAQ, Dow, all reaching all time high. So what’s the deal?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Well, and oil too is, you know, it’s still elevated from where it was before the war, but it’s not going crazy. So still right around $80 a barrel for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate. So oil market doesn’t seem too panicked about it.
I mean, the latest is that Iran has a deal, but they don’t want U.S. and Israeli ships to go through the Strait of Hormuz, which the U.S. said no, obviously not. And so, and it’s also hard to tell what’s public, what’s being said in public, and what’s really happening behind the scenes. Are the Iranian negotiators saying things to make the public happy when they’re really saying something else, and Oman and Pakistan?
I mean, it’s just very confusing situation. And I just, through this whole time, I’ve just been watching the markets and how they react, and they’ve been kind of shrugging this off. So the market seems to think that everything is going to be okay with this.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, I guess you shouldn’t do foreign diplomacy through the internet, or through the web, or the media. So I kind of just write all that stuff off as bluster. And you hope that we’re dealing with the right people to make the right decisions.
Jane, I wanna go back to consumer prices for a second. I’m all over the place, but when the consumer prices, food, you mentioned oil had been up, gas prices have been up. What’s the impact, or are we seeing any impact in the earnings of some of these retail companies?
Not, well, Amazon, Walmart, CVS. Are they feeling the brunt of some of these higher prices?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Right, well, it’s kind of hit and miss. So we did see Procter & Gamble just recently talk about how they’re seeing the consumer pull back. McDonald’s said something very similar.
Now, Amazon, they’re in AI and cloud, and so that’s going gangbusters. So that’s kind of taken over their retail business and masking any weakness that we might see there. So it really depends on the company and what kind of businesses that they’re involved in, how much effort they’re seeing.
I don’t know if you saw the oil company earnings recently, Exxon Mobil, huge gains compared to last year.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
In fact, the president- I mean, that’s what happens, Jane, when oil prices go up and it’s a commodity everyone needs.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Well, that’s right. And when oil prices are low, they suffer. So it’s just, it’s the market.
But yeah, the earnings, for the most part, have been very strong. And that’s been one of the things that’s been powering the Dow especially to record highs lately.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, it doesn’t stop the politicians from criticizing. It’s like, look at the oil people making a lot of money. But there’s a lot of people that work in the oil industry that do the work on the platforms.
And I mean, there’s probably tens of thousands of people that do that work. And it kind of impacts so many different jobs. Jane, I wanted to ask you, maybe shift gears to politics for a second.
Not that I want to talk politics, but the midterm elections are coming up after Labor Day is kind of the sprint to November. How does that, or will that factor into anything we see in the market? Or is that, or is Wall Street just like, okay, even if Democrats take control of the House and the Senate, it’s not gonna impact us as much?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Well, typically Wall Street likes kind of gridlock in Washington. I feel like this year’s a little different. Like some of the things that would be pro-business would not be able to get through.
We’ve got this socialism kind of wing in the Democrat Party that’s winning elections. What will that mean for taxes and private enterprise? I mean, you have heard some people from the Democrat Socialists of America on TV saying, we want the government to run corporations.
I mean, we’re a long ways from that, but still it’s out there. And some of these people are getting elected. So this might be different than what we’ve seen in the past with the elections.
But I really think the focus is more on Iran and the Fed. Those seem to be the things in the near term that are really impacting stocks lately.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah. Well, maybe they should take out from the library if there still are libraries. Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom.
It’s a great read. It was one of his first books.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
UChicago, that’s where my son goes.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
University of Chicago, right?
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Yeah, Milton Friedman, yeah.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
He was the bomb as far as Nobel Laureate. I mean, he was just the bomb. Jane King, always great to see you.
Thanks so much for your expert analysis. And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.
Jane King, Financial Journalist, LilaMax Media
Always great to be here.
