Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
In August, after the release of the July jobs report — which drastically revised down previous months’ numbers — U.S. President Donald Trump accused then Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of manipulating data, and fired her.
Yesterday, the BLS announced that the U.S. economy had added 911,000 fewer jobs than previously reported, for the year preceding March 2025. “Downward revisions since the cutoff date in that report suggest that the reduction in payroll growth has been actually around 1.2 million for the past 16 months,” wrote CNBC’s Jeff Cox.
That’s a big and scary number. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase — America’s biggest bank — in a reaction to the most recent report, said “the economy is weakening. Whether it’s on the way to recession or just weakening, I don’t know.”
Traders in the futures market now see an increased chance of cuts — which could support jobs creation — at each of the Fed’s next three meetings this year, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That’s assuming no more Fed officials are fired, which could change the trajectory of monetary policy for the next few years. Only they, and not the BLS commissioner, have the power to directly sway the U.S. labor market on such a macroscopic level.
What you need to know today
Trump presses the EU to impose 100% tariffs on China and India. The move, confirmed by sources to CNBC’s Megan Cassella, was aimed at pressurizing Russia to end its war on Ukraine. China and India are the two biggest buyers of the Kremlin’s oil.
A U.S. judge blocks Trump from firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. On Tuesday night stateside, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb granted Cook a preliminary injunction barring her termination. The case is likely to go up to the Supreme Court.
Oracle’s revenue projections stun analysts. Even though the software provider’s fiscal first-quarter earnings missed expectations, its guidance of explosive growth in the subsequent years caught analysts by surprise. Oracle
Record highs for major U.S. indexes. The S&P 500Dow Jones Industrial AverageNasdaq Compositeclose at all-time highs.Chinese markets rose Wednesday even as the country’s consumer prices fell more than expected in August.
[PRO] How the market will move after inflation report. The consumer price index will be released on Thursday morning stateside. Here’s how the S&P 500 might react, based on the core monthly inflation, according to JPMorgan.
And finally…
Record share of U.S. businesses divert China investments. Top choice: Southeast Asia
Nearly half of U.S. businesses have redirected planned China investments to other regions over the past year — the highest on record — the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said Wednesday.
As many as 47% of the respondents in the survey, conducted from May 19 to June 20, said that they had diverted investments planned for China primarily to Southeast Asia. The Indian subcontinent, which includes Bangladesh, was the second-most popular destination for redirected investments, while the U.S. and Mexico were tied at the third spot.
— Evelyn Cheng
International: Top News And Analysis
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