Nobody’s quite sure what the Federal Reserve’s next move for interest rates will be after the latest economic temperature check. The September jobs report came out yesterday—nearly two months late due to the government shutdown—and it painted a cryptic picture of surprising job growth alongside rising unemployment.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here’s the good:

• The US added 119,000 nonfarm positions in September, beating economists’ expectations of 50,000, per Wall Street Journal polling.
• That’s the strongest gain in five months (and it contradicts an earlier report of September job losses from the payroll-processing giant ADP).

And the bad:

• Unemployment rose to a four-year high of 4.4%, which reflects “both the positive dynamic of more Americans participating in the workforce and the gloomier reality of more people losing their jobs,” Bloomberg reported.
• Average hourly wages, which tend to indicate the direction of consumer spending, notched their smallest increase since June.

What this means for interest rates

Stronger-than-expected job gains present an argument for the Fed to hold rates steady at its next meeting, but on the other hand, rising unemployment is potentially a reason to slash. Fed officials were already in disagreement at their last meeting, and yesterday’s numbers will likely deepen their discord.

That’s all, folks. Partial October job numbers won’t come out until after the Fed meets in December, and inflation stats for the month might never be released. That means the belated September report is one of the biggest bits of official data that’ll inform the next interest rate decision.

But it’s also old news: The Fed may consider more recent, less rosy dispatches from the private sector that indicate declines in both consumer sentiment and small-business optimism. Also, UPS and Amazon are among several companies to recently announce thousands of layoffs, while Home Depot and Target lowered their full-year expectations, citing a pullback among shoppers.—ML

UPS plane in deadly crash had engine-mount “fatigue cracks,” report finds. A preliminary report by federal investigators into the UPS cargo jet crash that killed 14 people in Kentucky this month found evidence of “fatigue cracks” in the plane’s mount that connected its left engine to the wing. The aircraft, which was fully loaded with fuel for a flight to Hawaii, crashed seconds after takeoff, according to video footage. Its engine was on fire and detached before the plane hit the ground. Per the Wall Street Journal, investigators stopped short of blaming the crash on the fatigue cracks and aren’t expected to release a conclusion until a year after the incident. The plane’s engine mount was last inspected in 2021.

Trump says Democratic lawmakers’ video is “punishable by death.” President Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday that the Democratic politicians featured in a video telling military personnel that they can refuse illegal orders are engaged in “seditious behavior” and called them “traitors,” suggesting they should be arrested. He also reposted comments from Truth Social users saying that the Democrats should be “hanged.” The 90-second clip includes six Democratic members of the House and Senate—most of whom are military veterans—calling on US troops to disobey orders that violate the law. The video was likely a response to Trump ordering military personnel into US cities and launching strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela.

Netflix would reportedly break its biggest rule to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. According to a Bloomberg report, Netflix is willing to distribute WBD’s movies in theaters if it successfully buys the entertainment giant. Netflix has long resisted putting its films in theaters, preferring to release them directly on its streaming service (though it has made exceptions for certain movies to qualify for awards consideration). The move would make Netflix’s bid to purchase WBD “more palatable,” per Bloomberg. WBD put itself up for sale last month, drawing interest from Paramount Skydance and Comcast, in addition to Netflix. Comcast and Netflix are reportedly only interested in acquiring WBD’s studio and streaming businesses, while Paramount would likely want the whole enterprise.—AE

Walmart is acting like a mid-career professional who just aced their Python bootcamp and is jumping ship for a coding job. The retail giant said yesterday that it’s ditching the New York Stock Exchange favored by legacy industry to start hawking its shares on the tech-focused Nasdaq on Dec. 9.

Walmart, which has been listed on the NYSE since 1972, announced its plan to move—amounting to the biggest poach in Nasdaq’s history—during its Q3 earnings call. To explain, the company emphasized its e-commerce push and its embrace of AI and warehouse automation for cheaper and faster delivery. The retailer said its Q3 online sales grew 27% globally from the same period last year.

Value emporium

Less surprising in its earnings report was Walmart saying its bread and butter of offering bargains is a boon amid economic choppiness. Stores that have been open at least a year grew their sales 4.5% in Q3 compared to a year ago, as Walmart wooed shoppers trading down to its more affordable offerings.

But…Walmart noted that it is seeing restrained spending among low-income shoppers, as customers shift their dollars from discretionary items to necessities—potentially reflected in faster growth for sales of groceries and health items than other merchandise categories.—SK

Add this to the list of things parents need to be concerned about, in between lice and an imaginary friend resembling the Victorian child who inhabited their home 150 years ago: AI toys.

A recent report by the Public Interest Research Group found that some AI toys it tested were quick to discuss inappropriate topics with minors. OpenAI, whose GPT-4o chatbot model was used to power Singapore-based FoloToy, suspended its relationship with the company, after researchers were able to get the toymaker’s teddy bear to discuss sexual fetishes and give instructions about how to light a match and where to find knives in the home.

Consumer advocacy group Fairplay issued its own warning yesterday, urging parents to avoid buying AI-enabled toys this holiday season. The group accuses the toys of preying on children’s trust, disrupting their relationships, and invading privacy:

• A decade ago, Fairplay led the campaign against a wi-fi-connected talking Barbie doll, accusing it of recording children’s conversations.
• Mattel announced a partnership with OpenAI in June, but hasn’t released specific plans for the tech.

AI warnings are coming fast. The safety and privacy concerns come as researchers warn that teens are dangerously using the technology for therapy.—MM

The land that gave us Lego and Mads Mikkelsen has a new major export—and it’s almost singlehandedly growing the country’s GDP at record rates. Denmark’s GDP expanded by 2.3% in the third quarter, its biggest jump since 2021, thanks to Novo Nordisk and sales of its weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy:

• Excluding pharmaceutical exports, Denmark’s GDP would have grown by only 0.7%.
• Earlier this week, Novo lowered the prices of direct-to-consumer Ozempic and Wegovy from $499 per month to $349 per month.

And yet, even as Novo props up Denmark’s economy, it’s dealing with some rotten news. The company’s share price is down by nearly 50% this year as Novo faces increased competition from Eli Lilly and other power players in the surging GLP-1 market.—AE

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It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.