US private sector employers lost about 32,000 jobs last month, according to a report from payroll-processing giant ADP, which is likely to be the only data we get on the state of the labor market until the government shutdown ends.

The September drop continues a troubling trend, as ADP’s revised numbers show a loss of 3,000 jobs in August. Economists had hoped for an increase of close to 45,000 jobs in September.

Some key areas: The leisure and hospitality sector lost 19,000 jobs, likely due to vacation season wrapping up. Meanwhile, professional and business services fell by 13,000 roles. The overall decline was concentrated in the Midwest. Smaller companies (with under 500 employees) seem to be shedding the most workers.

This data…is fine

Jobs data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is regarded as the gold standard. Its September report was due to be released on Friday, but yesterday, the US government locked its big, ornamental doors and didn’t bring any work home.

That could mean the Fed will have to make its decision about whether to further cut interest rates in a few weeks without the benefit of the most recent data to guide them.

Still, ADP is pretty reliable. The company collects data about the 26+ million workers employed by companies that use ADP’s payroll management system. That’s a significant chunk of the US’ nearly 136 million private-sector workers. While ADP’s report is sometimes far off from initial BLS numbers, the company has revamped its process to make its reports more accurate, and recent ones highlighted declines in the labor market before the BLS data did.

When will we know more? If the shutdown doesn’t drag on, BLS should be able to get September’s jobs report and new CPI numbers out pretty quickly, even though it’s short-staffed from layoffs and President Trump recently fired its head. But if we experience a repeat of the 16-day break from 2013, future data could also be delayed. And lawmakers don’t have a plan to end this shutdown yet.—MM

Famed primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91. Goodall, who published groundbreaking research on chimpanzees and became an advocate for the conservation of their habitat, died of natural causes while on a speaking tour in California, her institute announced yesterday. British-born Goodall was 26 when she first went to Tanzania to study chimps, and she took the unusual approach of immersing herself with the animals. During her decades of work, Goodall revolutionized her field by discovering that chimpanzees use tools, fight wars, and engage in other behaviors very similar to those of humans. She also used her renown to raise awareness for environmental causes to protect the chimps from extinction.

Lisa Cook can stay at the Fed for now, SCOTUS says. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in January about President Trump’s firing of the Federal Reserve governor. Until then, Cook will be allowed to stay in her job, the court said yesterday in a brief unsigned order. Trump had asked the justices to let him oust Cook immediately as he continues to pressure Jerome Powell and co. for more rate cuts. The high-profile case over Cook’s firing touches on the independence of the central bank, whose officials can only be axed for “cause.”

Trump admin freezes $18b in NYC infrastructure funding. The administration announced yesterday that it had put on hold federal funds that had been awarded to major projects in New York City, including the construction of a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, and the extension of the Second Avenue Subway. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the decision was made “to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later raising questions about the contracting process for the projects. The move may also be intended to get at Democratic congressional leaders amid the government shutdown, as Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries both represent New York.—AR

You know the feeling of ordering 12 beers because happy hour is ending? The electric vehicle industry experienced a similar surge in sales just before the federal $7,500 EV tax credit expired on Tuesday. But now, just like after the happy hour binge, hangover fears lurk.

• Cox Automotive said EV sales in July, August, and September were up 21.1% from last year.
• JD Power reported that EV sales accounted for 11% of the US market in August, a level reached only once before, in December 2024, as Trump’s second term began.
• Ford, GM, and Hyundai all reported booming EV sales in Q3.

But…Ford CEO Jim Farley said he expects the EV market share to dip to 5% with the incentive program over. He also said that he foresees hybrids as the electric future.

Automakers are offering credit of their own: Tesla is offsetting a cost increase in some models with its own $6,500 credit. Reuters reports that the financing arms of Ford and GM initiated down payments on EVs in dealership stock before the deadline, thus keeping them eligible for the $7,500 tax credit when the purchase is completed later. Hyundai is offering $7,500 toward its 2025 Ioniq and as much as $9,800 toward its 2026 model.—DL

If free AI assistants wore shoes, this would be the other one dropping: Meta could soon use almost anything you say to its chatbot to try to sell you stuff more effectively on its platforms, the company announced yesterday.

For example, asking the purple and blue circle in your Instagram DMs to recommend nearby nature trails could lead to more ads for hiking boots, as well as creator content about mountains. They could appear in your Facebook feed, too, if your accounts are linked. Voice recordings by Ray-Ban Meta glasses will also factor into ad targeting.

There’s no opt-out option, other than ignoring the chatbot, but some things remain sacred. Meta said it won’t use conversations about your religion, political views, sexual orientation, health, or race and ethnicity to suggest ads. And chats from before Dec. 16, when the policy takes effect, will also be excluded.

Zoom out: AI players are starting to monetize their free chatbots. OpenAI introduced a feature this week to buy Etsy (and soon Shopify) products through ChatGPT, while Google and X recently announced plans to show ads in their AI search results.—ML

If you’re looking for a spine-chilling novel by Stephen King to get into the spirit of spooky season, your best bet probably isn’t the library at your local school. The author’s books were the most banned in US schools last year, according to a new report from PEN America. The report says King’s books faced 206 challenges during the 2024–2025 school year, and:

• Overall, 6,800 temporary or permanent book bans were implemented, affecting 3,752 unique titles. That’s down from 10,000 the year before, but still more than previous years.
• Of those, 80% were in three states—Florida, Texas, and Tennessee—all of which have or have considered laws making it easier to challenge books.

In the case of King, it may be that the prom committee doesn’t want anyone getting ideas from Carrie, but PEN America says books are most often targeted for including LGBTQ+ or racial themes, or descriptions of violence.—AR