Thousands marched in Tunisia’s capital to demand the resignation of President Kais Saied five years after he suspended parliament. Protesters revived the 2011 revolution’s slogan ‘the people want the fall of the regime’ as they decried democratic backsliding, economic hardship and political repression.
Published On 26 Jul 202626 Jul 2026
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Missed payroll expectations and revised April and May numbers put the Fed in a tough spot for rate cuts.
June’s employment numbers showed almost no change from the previous month, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 4.2% unemployment rate and an estimated 57,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, roughly half the 115,000 economists expected.
At the same time, the agency also revised April’s and May’s total nonfarm payrolls down by 31,000 and 43,000 jobs, respectively.
According to BLS data, the financial activities sector experienced no job growth in June, after losing 22,000 jobs in May and 43,000 from the end of January. Meanwhile, healthcare and social assistance added the most jobs in June, with 46,600. Among the sectors with the largest job losses were leisure and hospitality (-61,000), information (-9,000), and retail trade (-7,500).
“We know it’s taking people longer to find work, but there are also signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in the company’s National Employment Report for June. “For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.”
Using its proprietary methodology developed with Stanford Digital Economy Lab, ADP estimated that U.S. private employers added 98,000 jobs in June. Financial activities saw an increase of 14,000 jobs, placing it only behind education and health services (48,000) and trade, transportation, and utilities (15,000) in job creation.
Small businesses remain the largest source of hiring, with companies with 1-19 employees adding 38,000 new jobs. The companies with more than 500 employees added an additional 25,000 new positions. The companies that fell in between those sizes added 44,000 new jobs.
The revised April and May employment numbers and June’s lower-than-expected numbers reveal a softer labor market in the second quarter than previously thought.
The new figures have created a headwind for the Federal Reserve on possible rate cuts, as inflation remains close to its 2% target, according to the authors of a blogpost on the Curzio Research website.
“But a slowing labor market argues for cuts to support growth before conditions deteriorate further,” they wrote. “That is why the revisions matter. Every policy decision is only as good as the data behind it. If the Fed is reacting to numbers that keep getting weaker after the fact, it risks staying tight for too long.”
Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York say that the rise of remote work is linked to the rise in unemployment among more recent college graduates. File photo by Tony Avelar/EPA-EFE
June 1 (UPI) — Research shows that a rise in remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic is connected to a rise in unemployment among younger employees, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday.
In a blog post, the research authors said they estimate about 64% of the rise in unemployment among recent college graduates has to do with the connection to remote work, which “makes it more difficult for manager sto train and mentor new employees,” they wrote.
“Accordingly, companies may be reluctant to hire less-experienced workers in distributed work arrangements,” the post continued.
The authors said that unemployment among those younger than 29 was an average of 3.1% in 2017-19, compared to an average of 3.7% in 2022-25. Conversely, they wrote, the unemployment rate for more experienced college graduates fell from 1.9% in 2017-19 to 1.8% in 2022-25.
The researchers said they used data on both “remotable” and “non-remotable” jobs, comparing how easily common tasks for a given job can be done remotely. They also used proprietary data from an unnamed Fortune 500 company.
“We show that when people work next to their colleagues, they receive more feedback on their output and more mentorship,” the authors wrote. “When they are separated by even a short distance, that feedback tapers off dramatically. The loss in feedback is more pronounced for younger workers, who miss out on constructive comments that spur their development.”
However, Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who studies remote work, said that even companies that have remote work often have opportunities for time on site, CNBC reported.
“I don’t think there is any evidence this is slowing employment,” Bloom said. “Indeed, quite the reverse, as it’s easier for people to work and so labor supply looks to be rising.”
Financial sector jobs grew in April, but a record wage gap challenges the industry’s recovery.
There might be a light at the end of the tunnel for job safety in commercial banking — or it could be the light of an oncoming train.
After more than 12 months of continuous job losses, commercial banks may be turning the corner. The ADP National Employment report for April 2026 noted that the financial activities sector grew by 9,000 positions, 5,000 more than the previous month.
The sector added the fourth-most jobs, behind education and health services (61,000); trade, transportation, and utilities (25,000); and construction (10,000). Only professional and business services saw a decline, with 8,000 jobs lost in April.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is both more bullish and bearish compared to the ADP findings. The BLS calculated that the economy added 115,000 non-farm payroll jobs in April, while ADP saw private sector employment increase by 109,000 jobs, based on the anonymized weekly payroll data of more than 26 million private-sector employees.
On the other hand, BLS noted that employment in financial activities “showed little change over the month.”
The slight upswing seen by ADP could be a reversal of monthly job losses in commercial banking from February 2025, according to research by KBRA Financial Intelligence (KFI). But there’s a catch.
“Recent declines have been markedly narrower than those recorded in 2023 and 2024, suggesting that a consolidation of the commercial banking workforce could be slowing, but the ongoing implementation of AI within the industry could continue to shrink headcount at some banks,” according to a KFI Insight report.
So, where’s the greatest job growth? At the smallest and largest organizations.
The micro/small (1-19 employees) and large enterprises (more than 500 employees) led in job growth, with 43,000 and 42,000 positions, respectively. Only companies at the upper end of the mid-sized enterprise range (250-499 employees) cut, jettisoning 3,000 jobs in April.
“Small and large employers are hiring, but we’re seeing softness in the middle,” said Dr. Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. “Large companies have resources to deploy, and small ones are the most nimble, both important advantages in a complex labor environment.”
It’s not all good news. According to Bank of America Institute, which bases its numbers on aggregated and anonymized bank transaction data, unemployment payments continued to slow, but a large K-shape in wage growth continued into April.
“In April, higher-income households saw their after-tax wage growth rise to 6.0% year-on-year (YoY) — the highest rate we’ve observed since August 2021,” wrote the authors of the April 2026 Employment Report from the Institute.
“In fact, even within this cohort, there is a divergence, with after-tax wage growth for the highest 5% of households by income stronger than that of the rest of the higher-income cohort,” the authors noted.
“Middle- and lower-income households also saw increases in their after-tax wage growth in April, to 2.3% YoY and 1.5% YoY, respectively,” the researchers found. “But the gap between these cohorts and higher-income households remains at its widest level since our data series began in 2015.”
Published On 1 May 20261 May 2026
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Updated: 7 minutes agoUpdated: 7 minutes ago
Workers are gathering in cities around the world to mark International Labour Day, with some demonstrations, such as those in Istanbul, Turkiye, turning to scuffles with police.
Trade Unions are calling for solidarity and the protection of workers’ rights as the United States-Israeli war on Iran and rising energy costs raise concerns about the global economy.
“Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organisations in 41 European countries, told the media. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.”
Josua Mata, leader of the SENTRO umbrella group of workers’ groups in the Philippines, said: “Every Filipino worker now is aware that the situation here is deeply connected to the global crisis.”
Renato Reyes, a leader of the left-wing political group Bayan in the Philippines, told The Associated Press: “There will be a louder call for higher wages and economic relief because of the unprecedented spikes in fuel prices.”
In Indonesia, Said Iqbal, president of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation, told reporters: “Workers are already living pay cheque to pay cheque.”
Some of the largest demonstrations are being held in South America, including in Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela. In Argentina, angry workers protested on Thursday in the capital of Buenos Aires over President Javier Milei’s recent overhaul of long-held labour protections.
In Cuba, the foreign ministry held a gathering on Thursday in defiance of what it called the US’s “aggressions, threats, intensified blockade, and energy siege”.
On Friday, Cubans are expected to mark International Labour Day with a mass rally and a march in Havana.
In many countries, Labour Day rallies attract large crowds because May 1 is a public holiday. In the Turkish city of Istanbul, roads around Taksim Square were closed to make way for marches during the day. Later on Friday, demonstrators clashed with police, international media reported.
In France, where most people have the day off for May Day, workers’ unions using the slogan “bread, peace and freedom” called for protests in Paris and other cities.
Fears of a global recession are looming over Labour Day rallies at a time when income inequality is growing.
In Gaza, Palestinian workers have cancelled May Day events because of the economic crisis caused by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and poor conditions on the ground.
The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions said that about 550,000 workers across Gaza and the West Bank have no income and that the situation is unprecedented.
The International Trade Union Confederation has reported that at least four CEOs of major corporations each pocketed more than $100m in pay and bonuses last year, while many workers are facing potential job cuts.
Workers’ rights coalitions are calling for urgent action to curb extreme wealth. They want governments to impose higher, fairer taxes on the wealthiest and limit excessive executive pay.
While Labour Day began in the US, when workers protested for an eight-hour workday in the 1880s, the US does not count May Day as a public holiday.
However, an umbrella group of activist and workers’ groups known as May Day Strong has called for protests under the slogan, “workers over billionaires”. Hundreds of demonstrations and marches have been planned across the US.