Biden, Harris Win Big on Two Labor Fronts This Week

The chance of another jumbo-sized US interest-rate cut in November diminished this week with data showing the job market remains resilient and the economy—slowing as desired by the Federal Reserve—isn’t at risk of stalling. Job growth last month topped all estimates, the unemployment rate declined and wage growth accelerated. Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week reaffirmed that shielding the labor market was part of the reason why the Fed decided to kick off its easing cycle with a larger rate cut. The data is a welcome development for Powell and his colleagues, who apparently seek no further cooling of the job market. The figures also support hopes for a soft landing as the Fed tries to stamp out the last vestiges inflation. But the new numbers are also a reminder that “inflation is not dead,” said Mohamed El-Erian. Policymakers—and the Biden administration, and by extension Vice President Kamala Harris—got even more good news when East Coast and Gulf dockworkers agreed to end a three-day strike that threatened to paralyze trade.

While mass firings haven’t been a main feature of labor-market cooling in the US (except across Big Tech and Wall Street anyway) they’re picking up in other countries. Samsung is terminating employees in Southeast Asia and Oceania (but not at home in South Korea) and Volkswagen is firing workers in China and considering shuttering plants in Germany. The European Union, for its part, voted to impose tariffs as high as 45% on electric vehicles from China, threatening a broader trade conflict with Beijing, which has already vowed to protect its companies. China denies EU claims that it has been subsidizing its industries and threatened its own tariffs on European dairy, brandy, pork and cars. China has even bigger problems at home, as it rolls out a series of stimulus measures to help shore up its flagging economy.