2026 Graduates Face Worst Jobs Market in 5 years

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Kate Bullivant (0:33)

Stocks continue to slide this morning following yesterday's sell-off on Wall Street as fears over tech stocks and missing data take hold.

Quinton Webb (0:41)

We've had this extraordinary run-up in risky assets of all sorts this year. So you could say that we were priced at something close to perfection. And so it doesn't take much of a shift in mood for things to start coming back a bit.

Kate Bullivant (0:55)

Plus, US. Customs and Border Protection agents set their sights on North Carolina. And we look at why next year's graduates face the worst job market in five years. It's Friday, November 14th. I'm Kate Bullivant for the Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. Stock futures and markets around the world are down this morning, continuing yesterday's sell-off. Relief on Wall Street following the end of the government shutdown has given way to fears about whether a flood of delayed economic data could swing markets and upend bets on a December interest rate cut. US stocks posted their worst day in a month yesterday, with investors continuing to dump tech stocks, while Bitcoin extended a recent fall, hitting its lowest level in about six months. Here's Deputy Finance Editor Quinton Webb.

Quinton Webb (1:56)

The market has run up so much this year and tech stocks in particular have rallied so hard that now there has come into focus this question about whether valuations are excessive. So we are now by some measures back to sort of.com era style valuations and there is a concern that if some of the promise of AI doesn't come to fruition or it doesn't come to fruition as quickly as people are hoping, some of the huge amounts that tech companies are starting to spend on data centers and other AI initiatives may not deliver acceptable returns. And if that starts to happen, then these valuations will not look sustainable.

Kate Bullivant (2:35)

Quinton added that fears over delayed economic data following the government shutdown are also fuelling investor uncertainty.

Quinton Webb (2:43)

Quite possibly we will see more evidence of some of the things that people are starting to worry about, i.e. more evidence of sticking inflation, perhaps more evidence of labour market weakness. The concern for investors, I suppose, is partly that we could see signs of real economic stress, but probably the primary concern is that the Fed sees enough in the data to convince it to hold off near-term rate cuts.

Kate Bullivant (3:09)

Futures pricing now shows a roughly 50% chance that Fed officials will cut rates in December. That's down from 67% a week ago and 95% a month ago. One of the data points investors are particularly worried about is inflation. Consumer prices have continued to rise during Trump's trade war, prompting the administration to now eliminate tariffs on bananas, coffee, beef and certain apparel and textile products from four Latin American countries. A senior administration official told reporters yesterday this would happen under framework agreements with Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala saying details would be released in the coming weeks. Tariff rates of at least 10% would still apply on other products from those nations. The four countries will also reduce regulations and license requirements on US companies and coordinate with Washington on trade with non-market economies, including China. Meanwhile, signs of weakness continue to show in China's economy, with one measure of investment notching the sharper slowdown in years. The January to October drop in fixed-asset investment marks the first time the country has seen a decline over the first 10 months of the year, going back to at least 1992 Momentum in retail sales and industrial production also slowed last month, while the property market continued to struggle. The drop in investment could reflect China's efforts to discourage new investment in oversaturated sectors, including steel and electric vehicles.

Back in the US., all eyes will be on Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend, as federal agents from US. Customs and Border Protection shift their focus to the Democratic-led city. The local sheriff's office said it was notified by two federal officials earlier this week that ICE agents are expected in the area as early as Saturday. Speaking before that announcement, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein told the Charlotte Observer that he was concerned about recent tactics employed by immigration and customs enforcement in other cities.