An answer is finally coming to a question that economists, consumers and even the chair of the Federal Reserve have been asking for months: What is happening with the nation’s labour market?

Emerging from the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release a long-awaited trove of employment data Tuesday: October’s payrolls and November’s full jobs report are both set to be published at 8:30 a.m. ET.

After months in a data fog, economists broadly expect to see net job losses overall in October, followed by a slight rebound and gains in November.

Taken individually, these estimates seem to point in different directions, down in October and up in November. But viewed together, they are in line with the overall trajectory shown by alternative data sets in recent months: A labour market that is weakening, and an unemployment rate that is slowly creeping higher. (NBC – Continue Reading)

Hopes that Berlin’s spending plans will improve Germany’s economic situation have spurred a surprise increase in investor confidence in Europe’s largest economy.

The ZEW thinktank said Tuesday that its December expectations indicator for the coming half-year jumped to 45.8 points, the best showing since July. The latest measure beat the forecast of 38.4 and the 38.5 mark set in November.

The ZEW said its current conditions indicator for Germany eased to -81.0 points – its worst since May – versus -78.7 last month and the -80.0 estimate. (LiveSquawk – Continue Reading)

Managers in Europe’s largest economy are expected to express a smidgen more optimism about their lot as concerns about German growth persist.

An economists’ poll said the headline business climate index for Germany due Wednesday from the country’s Ifo economics institute is forecast to edge higher to 88.2 points from last month’s reading of 88.1.

The expectations measure of the index for the coming six months is projected to slip to 90.5 points from 90.6, with December’s current assessment reading set to improve to 85.7 versus 85.6 in the previous month. (LiveSquawk – Continue Reading)

The business of shipping goods around the world has suffered shock after shock since 2000, culminating in the effective closure of the Red Sea and Suez Canal two years ago. Don’t say it too loud, but there’s a good chance the waterway can reopen in 2026, reducing transportation costs and easing the strain on global supply chains.

It's hard to overstate the canal’s importance: It’s a choke point for about 15% of global trade in goods — and double that for container traffic. It’s been effectively closed since November 2023 when the Houthis, a rebel group controlling large swathes of Yemen, started attacking commercial vessels in the southern mouth of the Red Sea, sinking at least four ships, setting ablaze several others and killing several mariners. (Bloomberg – Continue Reading)

Three Democratic senators said on Tuesday that they are investigating whether and how the operations of technology companies are driving up residential electricity bills.

In letters sent on Monday to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and three other companies, the lawmakers said the energy needs of data centers used for artificial intelligence were forcing utilities to spend billions of dollars to upgrade the power grid. Energy companies typically recoup the money they invest in equipment through the rates they charge all users of electricity.

The senators — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — said they were concerned that customers other than the tech companies would be stuck footing the bill, especially if the A.I. boom ended. (NY Times – Continue Reading)