What are corporate outlooks without federal data?
Marketplace All-in-One
Marketplace
4.5 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tons of major companies are reporting quarterly earnings and outlooks this week. But with federal data collection on hold, firms don’t have all the usual context to evaluate what the future may bring. In this episode, how reliable are corporate earnings outlooks in an extended government shutdown? Plus: Labor productivity could warm up the chilly labor market, the Fed’s balance sheet is making some big changes, and the used car market is still experiencing COVID-19 knock-on effects.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | At Pluralsight, we don't just teach skills. |
| 0:02.8 | We are building the tech workforce who deliver results fast, accelerated by top-tier content. |
| 0:08.6 | Lead with confidence, lead with expertise. |
| 0:11.1 | Visit us at Pluralsight.com to tap in and learn more. |
| 0:16.6 | How exactly does one operate in a data-deprived economy? |
| 0:23.0 | From American public media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:32.0 | I'm Kai Rosedall, Tuesday Tuesday the 21st of October. |
| 0:39.2 | It is always to have you along, everybody. |
| 0:41.4 | We are going to continue today with the thought experiment that we've been running pretty much since the shutdown started. |
| 0:47.6 | Without actual government data to depend on, which way do we think the labor market is going? |
| 0:53.4 | We've seen plenty to convince us it's kind of slowed to a crawl. |
| 0:56.8 | The last four-monthly jobs reports that we got were pretty meh. |
| 1:00.4 | Job openings have been trending lower. |
| 1:02.9 | Kristen Schwab was telling us yesterday, |
| 1:04.4 | recruiters are seeing a pretty mixed picture as companies hold off investing in new people. |
| 1:09.2 | But we're going to examine the flip side of that labor market |
| 1:12.2 | coin today because there is something happening out there that could turn things around. |
| 1:17.1 | Marketplace's Justin Ho gets us going with labor productivity. Hiring is a lot weaker than it was |
| 1:23.0 | back when companies were scrambling to staff up after the pandemic. That means people are staying in their jobs longer. |
| 1:28.7 | And as people have gotten used to their new rules that they got during the pandemic high |
| 1:33.5 | turnover period, they've been more productive in their jobs. |
| 1:36.7 | That's George Perks, macro strategist at Bespoke Investment Group. |
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