_{US NEWS}

Fed's favored inflation gauge shows consumer prices remained elevated in September

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the PCE index, showed consumer prices were still elevated in September. Headline PCE rose 0.3% from August and remained 2.8% higher than a year ago—well above the Fed’s 2% target. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2% monthly and 2.8% annually, indicating slightly cooler but still sticky inflation.

Goods inflation accelerated, with prices up 1.4% annually, while services inflation eased slightly to 3.4%. The personal savings rate held steady at 4.7%.

Economists say inflation is no longer accelerating but may remain near 3% in the coming quarters, moderating toward—but not reaching—2% before 2026.

The Fed meets next week to decide on interest rates. Despite mixed views among policymakers and persistent inflation, markets expect an 87% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut. The data release was delayed due to the 43-day government shutdown, and the timing of the October report is still uncertain. Read More.

_{US NEWS}

US layoffs soar past 1.1M in 2025, highest level since the pandemic

U.S. employer layoffs fell sharply in November—dropping 53% from October to 71,321—but job cuts for 2025 have still climbed to their highest level since the massive pandemic layoffs of 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Despite the monthly decline, November layoffs were 24% higher than a year ago and exceeded 70,000 for only the second time since 2008 (aside from 2022). So far in 2025, employers have announced 1.17 million job cuts, up 54% from the same period in 2024 and the highest year-to-date total since 2020.

Key sectors driving layoffs:

• Telecommunications: 15,139 cuts in November (largest since April 2020); 38,035 YTD (+268%).

• Tech: 12,377 cuts in November; 153,536 YTD (+17%).

• Food industry: 6,708 November cuts; 34,165 YTD (+26%).

• Services: 5,509 November cuts; 69,089 YTD (+64%).

• Retail: 3,290 November cuts; 91,954 YTD (+139%).

Historically, announcing layoffs near year-end was common but fell out of favor after the Great Recession. This year marks only the sixth time since 1993 that year-to-date job cuts through November exceeded 1.1 million. Read More.