Labour

The United States Federal Reserve has cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 – 4.00 percent, amid signs of a slowing labour market and continued pressure on consumer prices.

The cut, announced on Wednesday, marks the US central bank’s second rate cut this year.

“Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments. Inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and remains somewhat elevated,” the Fed said in a statement.

“Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated.”

The cuts were largely in line with expectations. Earlier on Wednesday, CME Fed Watch — which tracks the likelihood of rate cuts — said there was a 97.8 percent probability of rate cuts.

After the September cut, economists had largely been expecting two additional rate cuts for the rest of this year. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley, among others, forecast one more 25-basis-point reduction by year’s end following Wednesday’s cut. Bank of America Global Research is the only major firm that is not anticipating another 25-basis-point cut in 2025.

“The Fed has a challenging line to walk; lower interest rates to support labour markets and growth, or raise them to tamp down inflation. For now, they are taking a cautious approach tilted a bit towards the growth concerns,” Michael Klein, professor of international economic affairs at The Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts, told Al Jazeera.

Despite forecasts, Federal reserve chairman Jerome Powell isn’t necessarily inevitable.

“We haven’t made a decision about December,” Powell told reporters in a press conference.

“We remain well-positioned to respond in a timely way to potential economic developments.”

Government shutdown implications

The cuts come as economic data becomes increasingly scarce amid the ongoing government shutdown, now in its 29th day as of Wednesday, making it the second-longest in US history, behind the 35-day shutdown during the first presidency of Donald Trump in late 2018 and early 2019.

Because of the shutdown, the Department of Labor did not release the September jobs report, which was scheduled for October 3. The only major government economic data released this month was the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the cost of goods and services and is a key measure of inflation. The CPI rose 0.3 percent in September on a month-over-month basis to an inflation rate of 3 percent.

That data was released because the Social Security Administration required it to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for 2026. As a result, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2.8 percent increase in payments compared to 2025.

The shutdown, however, could have a bigger impact on next month’s central bank decision as the Labor Department is currently unable to compile the data needed for its November reports.

However, amid the limited government data, private trackers are showing a slowdown.

“We are not going to be able to have the detailed feel of things, but I think if there were a significant or material change in the economy one way or another, I think we would pick that up,” Powell said.

Consumer confidence lags

Consumer confidence fell to a six-month low, according to The Conference Board’s report that was released on Tuesday.

The data showed that lower-income earners – those making less than $75,000 a year – are less confident about the economy as fears of job scarcity loom. This comes only days after several large corporations announced waves of layoffs.

On Wednesday, Paramount cut 2,000 people from its workforce. On Tuesday, Amazon cut 14,000 corporate jobs. Last week, big box retailer Target cut 1,800 jobs. This, as furloughs and layoffs weigh on government workers. The US government is the nation’s largest employer.

Those making more than $200,000 annually remain fairly confident and are leading consumer spending that is keeping the economy afloat, according to The Conference Board.

Pressures both on consumer spending and the labour market are largely driven by tariffs weighing on consumers and businesses.

US markets are ticking up on the rate cut. The Nasdaq is up 0.5, the S&P 500 is up 0.1, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by 0.26 as of 2pm in New York (18:00 GMT).

Study finds that rates soar to 90 percent in some regions as humanitarian crises compound childhood exploitation.

Nearly two-thirds of South Sudanese children are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, with rates reaching as high as 90 percent in the hardest-hit regions, according to a government study released with the charity Save the Children.

The National Child Labour Study, published on Friday, surveyed more than 418 households across seven states and found that 64 percent of children aged between five and 17 are trapped in forced labour, sexual exploitation, theft and conflict.

The findings reveal a crisis far more complex than poverty alone, intensified by relentless flooding, the spread of disease, and conflict that have uprooted families and left millions on the brink of hunger.

In Kapoeta South, near the border with Uganda, nine out of 10 children work in gold mining, pastoralism and farming instead of attending school, the report said.

Yambio region, the country’s southwest, recorded similarly dire rates, with local conflict and child marriage driving children into labour.

Children typically start with simple jobs before being drawn into increasingly dangerous and exploitative work, the report found. About 10 percent of those surveyed reported involvement with armed groups, particularly in Akobo, Bentiu and Kapoeta South counties.

The types of exploitation children face differ by gender. Boys are more likely to work in dangerous industries or join armed groups, while girls disproportionately face forced marriage, household servitude and sexual abuse.

‘A crisis that goes beyond poverty’

Knowing the law does not stop child exploitation, researchers found.

The surveys showed that 70 percent of children stuck in dangerous or illegal work lives came from homes with adults who were familiar with legal protections. Two-thirds of children were unaware that help existed.

“When nearly two-thirds of a country’s children are working – and in some areas, almost every child – it signals a crisis that goes beyond poverty,” said Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s South Sudan country director.

South Sudan’s child labour prevalence vastly exceeds regional patterns. While East Africa has the continent’s worst record at 30 percent, according to ILO-UNICEF data, South Sudan’s 64 percent is more than double that figure.

“Education remains the strongest protective factor,” Nyamandi said, noting that children who attend school are far less likely to be exploited.

The government acknowledged the crisis at the report’s launch in Juba. Deng Tong, undersecretary at the Ministry of Labour, said officials would use the evidence as a “critical foundation for action”.

The report comes as nearly one million people have been impacted by severe flooding across South Sudan, with 335,000 displaced and more than 140 health facilities damaged or submerged.

The country faces a related malaria outbreak with more than 104,000 cases reported in the past week, while 7.7 million people confront acute hunger, the United Nations said.

South Sudan has also been gripped by fears of renewed civil war. A fragile 2018 peace deal between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar appears increasingly strained, with armed clashes now occurring on a scale not seen since 2017, according to UN investigators.

Machar was arrested in March and charged in September with treason, murder and crimes against humanity. He has rejected all charges.

About 300,000 people have fled the country this year as violence has escalated.

HE is among the world’s highest-paid male models, with smouldering good looks and a six-pack you could grate cheese on.

But David Gandy has swapped his jet-setting lifestyle for school runs, sleeping alone and discussions about HRT after becoming a father.

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The Essex-born hunk — who has daughters Matilda, six, and Tabitha, three, with partner Steph Mendoros — may be desired by women across the globe.

But he spent three months kipping by himself on the floor after Tabitha’s birth in 2021, because she was taking up his side of the bed.

In his most candid interview yet, David — who shot to fame wearing tiny white briefs in Dolce & Gabbana ads — tells the latest episode of Fabulous’ No Parental Guidance podcast: “Steph, in the first few months, was sleeping with the baby and was breastfeeding.

“And just so she got a good night’s sleep, she would have the baby there falling asleep.

“That is a situation where you are just going to be a hindrance. You are taking up room. You can’t help.”

He adds: “So when we were building our house, Steph had just given birth to Tabs.

I failed at labour. I kind of turned into George Clooney from ER and thought, “I’m delivering this baby. I was at the business end and the midwifehad to ask me to get out of the way

David

“We were staying in Steph’s old flat while the house was being built, and Matilda had this little room.

“I had nowhere to sleep. I slept on the floor for three months. I had to spin like a dog, trying to find somewhere to sleep.

‘Christmas alone’

“But as long as your partner can get sleep, that’s the main thing. I am fine with no sleep. Steph is awful.”

Since settling down with Steph, a barrister, heartthrob David is now more likely to be found hanging out with the other dads at the school gates than strutting his stuff on the catwalk.

And it seems the menopause is a hot topic for men as well as women.

“The dads have had the [HRT] discussion at the school gates,” David, 45, tells comedian Hannah East and model and influencer Louise Boyce, who host the podcast.

“They say, ‘Get the patch’. Then one dad will go, ‘They’re very horny on the patch!’.”

David and Steph got together in 2016 and daughter Matilda was born two years later.

The model admits that when his girlfriend went into labour, he turned into George Clooney’s character Dr Doug Ross from US hospital drama, ER.

“I failed at labour,” he says. “We still argue about it. I kind of turned into George Clooney from ER and thought, ‘I’m delivering this baby’.

Of course I tried the gas and air. They told me to go and have a sleep and then Steph needed me and the midwife had to go back to Steph and say, ‘I can’t wake him up

David

“I was down at the business end. The midwife had to ask me if she could have her stool back and if I could get out of the way.”

Like most men, David could not resist having a sneaky puff of the gas and air intended to relieve labour pains — only for it to knock him out completely.

He reveals: “Of course I tried the gas and air. They told me to go and have a sleep and then Steph needed me and the midwife had to go back to Steph and say, ‘I can’t wake him up’,” he recalls.

It is all a world away from David’s globe-trotting days as a top-earning male model with an estimated £12million fortune.

After growing up in Billericay, he went on to study marketing at the University of Gloucestershire, where his flatmate entered him into a modelling competition on ITV’s This Morning without his knowledge.

He went on to win a contract with Select Model Management — and a star was born.

His now- infamous campaign for Dolce and Gabanna’s Light Blue fragrance in 2007 — which saw him squeeze into tiny white trunks to cavort on a boat with a brunette — set women’s pulses racing and launched him to stardom.

He now has more than one million followers on Instagram as well as 25million likes on TikTok, not to mention high-profile campaigns for Burberry and Hugo Boss.

After meeting Steph and becoming a dad, he cut back on the commitments that involved him take around 100 flights a year, and has recently launched his own line of underwear for his David Gandy Wellwear brand.

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But it could have ended very differently for David — who has also had high-profile romances with singer Mollie King, musical theatre actress Samantha Barks and TV host Laura Whitmore — because he thought Steph had stood him up on their first date nine years ago.

“We met through one of my good friends,” he recalls.

“We kind of knew each other before — we only lived a mile and a half away from each other. We arranged to go for a date, but Steph has a terrible sense of direction and ended up in the wrong pub.”

He adds: “When me and Steph got together, there was a discussion, like ‘When are we having children?’.

“I said I’ve been working solidly. I didn’t take holidays. I didn’t take time off.

“I spent Christmas alone because I was so exhausted sometimes. I just want two years of us two to enjoy being together’.”

Now, having had two kids with Steph, David thinks there should be more education for men about the hormone changes women go through when they embrace parenthood.

“When babies are born, no one ever tells the husband about the hormones,” he says. “Your wife’s hormones are all over the place, before and after giving birth.

I think we are so scared to let our children even out the front door

David

“No one explains that you are probably going to be wrong about everything for the next year and to just put up with it. Just go, ‘OK darling’.”

‘Give kids freedom’

While, nowadays, parents are often super-protective and more overbearing than previous generations, David is making a conscious effort to relax when it comes to raising his daughters.

He explains: “I’m trying to tell myself not to be too protective.

“I think we are so scared to let our children even out the front door.

At nine years old, I was on a bike going through Billericay, travelling five miles out, and my parents were like, ‘It’s cool’.

“My kids are outside for 20 seconds at a supermarket and I’m panicking. I just think we need to allow our kids a bit more freedom.

“That’s advice for all of us — ‘Don’t worry, no one knows what they’re doing’. Generally, everyone turns out OK.”

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But while he tries to be laid back, David, who is also an ambassador for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, admits he is not a fan of the trend for “gentle parenting”.

He says: “I teach them, ‘You’re not having iPads. First of all, you have a conversation around the dinner table’.

“I take colouring stuff and I always make sure they’re entertained so they are not bored.

“But they are very polite. I’ve always said, ‘You don’t talk to someone like that. You don’t ask someone like that. Go and get it yourself. Go and do it yourself’.

“I got to a point with my mum and dad where they just needed to give me a look. It seems to work.

“My mum’s best threat that used to shut me up really quickly was, ‘I’m going to come and take your pants down in front of everyone and smack your bum’.

“My mum and dad never smacked me, but it was the threat of my bum being pulled out in front of everyone.”

And while his children might have excellent table manners, David jokes they treat him like a live-in chef at their home in London’s Richmond Park.

He says: “We have a pretty good rhythm going now. I do mornings — the kids are up with me.

“I do the breakfast, which they order from me.

“I am the waiter. I say, ‘What would you like? Do you want porridge today?’.

“And they say, ‘Daddy, I don’t want porridge, I want waffles. Can I have waffles with honey?’. Matilda musy think she’s at a Michelin-star restaurant.

“It’s actually not that chaotic. I put everything out in the evening as I am not a morning person.

“I’m OK once I get to my espresso machine.”