Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your midday brief for Wednesday, February 11th. I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal. The U.S.
Chapter 2: What were the job growth statistics for January?
economy added 130,000 jobs in January, its strongest growth in more than a year. The surprisingly strong gains were concentrated in the health care and social assistance sector.
That's been the main engine of jobs growth in recent months. As for the unemployment rate, that fell to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent. The numbers make it harder for the Federal Reserve to justify more interest rate cuts on the basis of weakness in the labor market. However, revisions out today to job numbers stretching back almost two years show just how tough the job market has been.
The Congressional Budget Office says the U.S.
budget deficit will remain roughly flat for the next two years and then widen over the next decade. Interest costs will consume an increasing share of spending. The budget office estimates that by 2036, that is, in a decade, the deficit will be more than $3 trillion, or 6.7 percent of GDP. That's a level the U.S. has exceeded only a few times since World War II.
And Kraft Heinz said today that it's hitting pause on a planned company split. It was going to separate its condiment and grocery staples businesses. Kraft Heinz's new CEO says the company's challenges are fixable and his priority is returning to profitable growth. Kraft Heinz today reported a drop in sales from the ninth straight quarter, with revenue falling 3.4 percent.
Heads up, an artificial intelligence tool helped us make this episode by creating summaries that were based on WSJ reporting and then reviewed and adapted by an editor. We'll have more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
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