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A pedestrian passes a "Help Wanted" sign in the door of a hardware store in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

US jobs soar despite Fed’s high interest rates

A stunning US jobs report on Friday showed that the US economy added a whopping 517,000 jobs in January, far more than the expected 187,000 – taking unemployment down to 3.4%, the lowest it's beensince May 1969. This, coupled with the 11 million US employment openings at the end of 2022, reflects a hopping job market. Experts attribute the surprise figures to there being so much pent-up labor demand that companies continue to hire, though the tech sector has seen a recent slew of layoffs. Job creation has increased in areas like housing and finance, which would normally be more sensitive to high interest rates.

Sounds pretty great, right? Not exactly. The Federal Reserve has been desperately trying to slow the economy and tamp down inflation by raising interest rates, with eight hikes since March 2022. More jobs, however, mean more money being heaped into the economy, so markets tumbled Friday morning as investors anticipated more interest rate hikes in response. That said, the hiring surge may give economists a reason to soften their predictions about a looming recession, or at least about its severity.

Are we entering a post-dollar world?

Are we entering a post-dollar world?

The U.S. dollar reigns supreme among all currencies in global trade and finance.

What does this mean? Only that the dollar is the currency of choice for most economic activities conducted around the world, including those by and between non-U.S. entities. For instance:

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Join us for our Global Stage event live from Washington DC

WATCH : Today at 3:30 pm ET, GZERO Media streamed from the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, to discuss "Financing the Future" as part of our Global Stage series.

Moderator Jeanna Smialek, Federal Reserve reporter at The New York Times, led the conversation with Eurasia Group and GZERO Media president Ian Bremmer, World Bank president David Malpass, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, and Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt. We also heard from Vickie Robinson, General Manager, Microsoft Airband Initiative, and Gintarė Skaistė, Minister of Finance, Lithuania.

GZERO Media's Webby Award-nominatedGlobal Stage series is produced in partnership with Microsoft.

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Why SPAC IPOs Are Getting So Big and Popular | Money In :60 | GZERO Media

Why SPAC IPOs are getting so big and popular

Betty Liu, Executive Vice Chairman for NYSE Group, explains:

Why have SPACs been so popular recently?

Well, that's because companies are embracing newer ways to tap the public markets outside of the traditional IPO. You've heard me talk about direct listings, for instance. And now SPACs are having a very big year, this year. In fact, nearly a third of all US IPO proceeds raised have been raised through SPACs in the first half of 2020.

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Why You Should Save For Retirement Over Education: Money in 60 Seconds

Why You Should Save For Retirement Over Education: Money in 60 Seconds

What should be a bigger priority for me: saving for my children's education or saving for retirement?

This one hurts me. It hurts me to say this, because I've got children, and I really like 'em a lot. It's gotta be your retirement. I know that doesn't feel right as a parent, but if you have to make a choice, there are scholarships and there are loans for college. Nobody ever got a scholarship for retirement. And so this is one where you need to strap your oxygen mask on before assisting others, and — as much as it hurts me — to put yourself first.

The stock market's had a good year so far. Is now a good time to invest?

Yeah! Wow, what a difference. Remember December? I remember sitting, December 24th, when the market was down like 2.4 or 2.5% and it was just like [choking sound]. And it's up 16% since then. Now it feels like, gosh, maybe this isn't a good time to invest. But let's be perfectly clear: You have no idea. And anybody who says they have an idea has no idea. No one knows where the market is going from one week or one year to the next. There are just too many factors into it. So you want to — for those of you who are familiar with the term — dollar-cost average. For those of you who aren't, you want to invest through up markets and down, a bit out of every paycheck, sometimes it'll be lower, sometimes it'll be higher, and then it evens out over time which doesn't feel sexy, but actually is very sexy. It's very sexy in order to earn market returns, because most folks don't.


And go deeper on topics like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at Microsoft on The Issues.


Individual Investor Performance: Money in 60 Seconds

Individual Investor Performance: Money in 60 Seconds

Question 1: Over the past 20 years, how have individual investors done? What kind of returns have they had?

Well, back up. We know that active managers tend to underperform the markets by about the amount of fees — mutual fund managers underperform by about the amount of fees. Over the past 20 years, individual investors have done even worse. So at a time when, according to Dalbar, the stock market has gone up annually 5.6, 5.8%, bonds have gone up annually 4.5%, individual investors — their money has gone up annually about 1.9%. So that doesn't even keep up with inflation, which is estimated to be 2.2%. Why is this? Because we sometimes are our worst enemies. I mean there are many reasons for it. But you over-trade, you tend to panic when times are tough, markets are bad, and you're trading in and out at the wrong time.

Question 2: My company doesn't report its gender pay gap, so it doesn't have one … right?

Uh, wrong. On average, if women are making 80 cents to a man's dollar — sometimes it's 78 cents, sometimes it's 82 cents — then on average, your company has a gender pay gap. And that can be even if it's great people who are there, because in a society in which men have been socialized to negotiate and women have been socialized not to, and bosses — who are just looking for the bottom line — if someone asks for the money they'll give it to them, and if they don't, they won't … you've got a gender pay gap. So if your company isn't reporting one, ask them to.


And go deeper on topics like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at Microsoft on The Issues

Worst Money Advice: Money in 60 Seconds

Worst Money Advice: Money in 60 Seconds

You should pay down your credit card debt BEFORE building your emergency fund.

It's Money in 60 Seconds with Sallie Krawcheck!


And go deeper on topics like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at Microsoft on The Issues.

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