Breaking Job News: Shrinking Paychecks, Soaring Prices, & Record-Low Optimism

In today’s job market news, host Pete Newsome uncovers the truth behind today’s headlines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that real wages are slipping as inflation continues to rise, leaving many workers feeling like they’re falling further behind. At the same time, a leadership shakeup at the BLS is raising questions about the accuracy of the very numbers we rely on.

Even more troubling: job seeker optimism has plunged to its lowest level in more than a decade, with confidence in the job market collapsing. And while some workers push back, Brookfield declares the return-to-office debate is “over” as major companies bring employees back to their desks.

Stay tuned for the latest insights on wages, inflation, hiring sentiment, and workplace trends that impact both job seekers and employers.

News Articles:
1. BLS Real Earnings Summary: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.nr0.htm
2. Leadership Jobs Staffing Crisis at BLS: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-09/third-of-bls-leadership-jobs-sit-empty-at-us-economic-statistics-agency?embedded-checkout=true
3. Job confidence at a decade low: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/11/worker-job-hunt-sentiment-unemployment-outlook/
4. Broofield claims RTO debate is over: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-10/the-rto-debate-is-finally-over-says-office-giant-brookfield?embedded-checkout=true

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Episode Transcript

Pete Newsome (00:03):
In today's job market headlines.
A commercial real estate giantdeclares the RTO, debate over
job seeker sentiment reachesall-time lows and the BLS has
staffing shortages.
But before we get to that, thismorning the BLS reported that
real average hourly earnings forall employees fell 0.1% from
July to August, and from August24 to August 25, earnings are up

(00:25):
only 0.7%.
Now compare that to theinflation numbers that also came
out today.
August CPI rose to 2.9%, withcore CPI inflation rising to
3.1%.
Inflation is now the highestit's been since January and so,
no matter how you look at it,paychecks aren't keeping up with
rising costs.

(00:46):
We need to see this turnaroundvery soon.
In other news, according toBloomberg, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics is running short onleadership, which is at the
worst possible time for that tohappen.
They report that aboutone-third of high-level roles at
BLS are currently unfilled andstaffing as a whole is down
roughly 20 percent, with a lotof the veteran workers over

(01:08):
there and data experts leavingbecause of buyouts.
White House spokesman TaylorRoger says for years the BLS has
been failing America'sbusinesses, policymakers and
families by publishing jobsreports with vastly inaccurate
data.
Yes, that's true, we all knowthat.
Now it's coming to light.
But what is going to be doneabout it?
I mean, if this organization isso short-staffed, how can we

(01:31):
expect a turnaround anytime soon?
Things at BLS just continue togo from bad to worse, so let's
hope they can figure it out andstart to modernize what seems to
be a very, very slow and behindthe curve organization.
Speaking of things needing toget better, the Washington Post
reports that pessimism among jobseekers is the worst in at

(01:52):
least a decade.
This comes from an Augustsurvey by the New York Federal
Reserve Center for MicroeconomicData.
It showed that the job findingsentiment dropped to a record
low 44.9% last month.
This means job seekers are morepessimistic than they've been
since at least 2013, when theystarted tracking this trend
originally.
And it's for good reason.
There are more than 800,000 jobcuts that have been reported

(02:15):
this year, which is more thanany similar stretch outside of
the pandemic.
Entry-level roles are scarceand job postings are now back
down to levels we haven't seensince 2021.
So, between the tariffs policy,shifts and ai, employers just
aren't hiring right now, andit's not because they don't need
people, it's because they justdon't feel safe hiring.
And so, while the number of jobopenings is high and

(02:39):
unemployment is historically low.
The bottom line is the jobmarket may look strong on paper,
but that's it, because it isn'tat all representative of what
it's like in real life, where itjust isn't good right now.
In today's final headline,bloomberg reports that the RTO
debate is finally over,according to office giant
Brookfield.
Brookfield says demand foroffice space is soaring because

(03:02):
companies vastly underinvestedin workspace, particularly for
in-person collaboration.
Brookfield is a major player inthe commercial real estate
space and they made theirposition clear during a recent
investor day.
According to their presentation, demand for office space is
surging again, driven bycompanies requiring more
in-office presence from theirstaff.
Their position is that economicand corporate signals indicate

(03:24):
that hybrid models are beingreplaced by stricter on-site
expectations.
A month ago, I would have calledBS on this.
Let's be honest, as acommercial real estate investor,
brookfield is biased, so it'sin their interest for everyone
to return to the office, butbased on news we've seen over
the past couple of weeks fromAmazon, microsoft, nbcuniversal
and Paramount, it seems theymight be right.

(03:45):
It appears that this is whathappens when employers believe
they hold all the cards.
Now I say it's a risk, becausethe tide can turn at any time
and when it becomes anemployee's market again.
Well, these companies mayregret these strict decisions
that they're making right now.
So we'll have to see whathappens.
And, in closing, our fun factfor today the first country to

(04:06):
implement an eight hour workdaywas Uruguay.
Who knew Uruguay?
In 1915, they implemented theeight hour workday, so we can
either thank them or blame themfor that, depending on your
perspective.
So that's it for today.
Thanks for listening.
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