Prepping for a deluge of labor market data

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T's and C's apply.

Nancy Marshall-Genser (1:01)

The tariff wall is lowered a little bit.

From Marketplace, I'm Nancy Marshall-Genser, in for Kimberly Adams. The US and China are each lowering tariffs and about $30 billion worth of imported products. The moves follow President Trump and Chinese President Xi's summit in Washington last week. Marketplace's Henry Epp has more on which goods are listed.

SPEAKER_2 (1:25)

The US list is mostly made up of consumer products. Toys, high chairs, sports equipment, table linens, and microwaves from China, to name a few, will all see lower import taxes. China's list, meanwhile, is heavy on agricultural products from the US, including corn, wheat, barley, tobacco, and rice. Not on the list, though, are soybeans. American soybeans have historically been a major export to China, but dropped significantly last year. China has separately committed to buying 25 million tons of soybeans annually from the US and has begun ramping up those purchases. These moves come as the US and China also agreed to extend what the countries are calling a trade truce, which was set to expire in November. They've now extended that truce to early January. I'm Henry App for Marketplace.

Nancy Marshall-Genser (2:11)

Tomorrow, the Labor Department will report on how many job openings were posted in August. Those vacancies can give us a sense of where labor demand is strongest right now.

So Marketplace's Justin Ho looked into the types of jobs employers are trying to fill.

Justin Ho (2:26)

Early in the year, employers were not posting that many open positions.

Nicole Cervi (2:30)

But over these past few months, you're actually starting to see job openings growth pick up.

Justin Ho (2:35)

That's Nicole Cervi, an economist at Wells Fargo. She says that new growth is being fueled by the goods producing side of the economy.

Nicole Cervi (2:42)

Retail trade, wholesale trade, construction, manufacturing.

Justin Ho (2:46)

Cervi says those sectors were not doing much hiring last year because tariffs caused demand for goods to slow down. But this year, trade policy is a little more certain.

Nicole Cervi (2:55)

I think a lot of those firms have some pent up demand for labor and they're trying to right size here in 2026

Justin Ho (3:02)

Cervi says demand for AI infrastructure is also fueling job openings, especially in construction and manufacturing. Kathy Busjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, says that demand is pushing up wages too.

Kathy Busjancic (3:14)

Particularly if I'm looking at construction workers, you've actually seen an increase or an acceleration in their average hourly earnings.

Justin Ho (3:22)

But Busjancic says demand for labor on the services side of the economy has not been so strong, so wage growth has been weaker there too.

Kathy Busjancic (3:29)

If I looked at the end of 2025, average hourly earnings in the service sector were 3.7 percent, and now it's slowed to 2.9.

Justin Ho (3:39)

Still, Busjancic says the strength we're seeing on the goods side is supporting consumer spending overall, and she expects that economic growth will pick up in the third quarter. I'm Justin Ho for Marketplace.

Nancy Marshall-Genser (4:08)

Only 27% of the public trusts the federal government. That's according to a new survey from the Partnership for Public Service. But is this level of public distrust new, or part of a broader trend over the past several years? And does this distrust extend to federal employees? Joining us to discuss the study's findings is Max Steyer. He's president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. Max, welcome.

Max Steyer (4:35)

Thank you so much. Great to be here.