US labor market stays resilient; Q4 labor costs revised higher

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell again last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength and adding to financial market fears that the Federal Reserve could keep hiking interest rates for longer.

Those worries were further heightened by another report from the Labor Department on Thursday showing labor costs grew much faster than previously estimated in the fourth quarter. The labor market remains tight despite rising risks of a recession, contributing to keeping inflation elevated via solid wage gains. READ MORE

America's low labor participation rate 'a social and economic disaster,' experts warn

By now it's common knowledge that the U.S. saw an unprecedented drop in labor participation at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as health concerns, lockdowns and stimulus payments caused tens of millions to abandon or forfeit their jobs.

But three years later, millions still haven't returned – including many who quit in the middle of their prime working years – and some economists are sounding the alarm that so many capable, would-be earners remain out of the workforce. READ MORE

Big Tech's latest shady bid aims to squash its smaller rivals

Big Tech lawyers are riding high. A Delaware judge recently delivered a lengthy memo trampling the American justice system and supporting Big Tech’s longstanding efforts to crush smaller entrepreneurs. 

Chief Judge Colm Connolly of the U.S. District Court of Delaware bit hook, line, and sinker on an absurd argument that the biggest and richest technology companies have been peddling for decades.  READ MORE

Increasingly the Driving Force Behind Corporate Performance

In the past 45 years, intangible assets have steadily and quickly replaced physical capital as the most valuable asset class (see graphic 1). Employees are the stewards of these intangible assets as they bring the unique experience, knowledge, networks, and know-how that are voluntarily shared or withheld and codified in company culture. Indeed, the various drivers of culture, including leadership, policies, decision rights, organizational design, people development, and relevancy, determine the extent to which employees share or horde these intangible assets. And, since the decision to do so unfolds, employee-by-employee, on a continuous basis, culture’s contribution to company performance in the intangible economy has markedly grown. READ MORE

6 Strategies To Determine The Right Business Model For Your Startup

It's essential for the success and expansion of a company to choose the most appropriate business model. This model will effectively lay the groundwork for a company's overall strategy as well as its day-to-day operations. It will prove crucial to determining the course for how a firm generates, delivers and retains value for its customers.

Yet with so many options to pick from, it may can be difficult to identify which business model works best for your startup. Here are six strategies I recommend to help leaders choose the appropriate business model for their own company. READ MORE

Tech Layoffs Are Feeding a New Startup Surge

Henry Kirk always thought he would eventually leave his job as an engineering manager at Google and start his own company. But when he became one of the 12,000 employees let go by the tech giant in January, he decided his time had come—albeit in an earlier and unexpected fashion.

Kirk and five others laid off from Google are now working on launching their own software design and development studio. He announced his ejection from Google and the new venture in a LinkedIn post that garnered more than 15,000 reactions. Kirk says he’s received a staggering 1,000 messages since making the post from people looking to work with the new agency or simply wishing him well on his attempt to conjure opportunity from a setback. READ MORE

Justices 'completely confused' during arguments in Section 230 case against Google that could reshape internet

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the first of two cases this week that explore the extent of the legal protections given to tech companies that provide a platform for third-party users to publish content.

The case in question, Gonzalez v. Google, deals with recommendations and algorithms used by sites like YouTube that go further than simply allowing users to post content, but arrange and promote the content to users in a certain way. YouTube and Google are facing litigation over allegedly recommending videos created by ISIS and used to recruit new members. READ MORE

Walmart sees weaker 2023 results, cautious on economic outlook

Walmart Inc struck a cautious note in its economic outlook for 2023 on Tuesday, as the retail bellwether forecast full-year earnings below estimates and warned that cautious spending by consumers could pressure profit margins.

Shares of the world's largest retailer fell 4.6% to $139.75 in premarket trading, as the company continued to battle price hikes from many of its product suppliers in a high-inflation environment. READ MORE

AI is starting to pick who gets laid off

Days after mass layoffs trimmed 12,000 jobs at Google, hundreds of former employees flocked to an online chatroom to commiserate about the seemingly erratic way they had suddenly been made redundant.

They swapped theories on how management had decided who got cut. Could a “mindless algorithm carefully designed not to violate any laws” have chosen who got the ax, one person wondered in a Discord post The Washington Post could not independently verify. READ MORE

ChatGPT creator Sam Altman says the world may not be 'that far away from potentially scary' AI and feels 'regulation will be critical'

Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, warned the world may not that "that far from potentially scary" artificial intelligence, and said regulating it will be "critical."

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Altman said a transition to an AI-enabled future is "mostly good" and can happen fast — like the transition from "pre-smartphone world to post-smartphone world." READ MORE

Every part of Biden's economic agenda is inflationary

Before we go "ballooning" again tonight—and we'll be speaking with Senator Tom Cotton in just a moment — a few words about today's hotter than expected consumer price index. It wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't so great either.   

Basically, the Federal Reserve is still a one-man band getting no help from Joe Biden's inflationary fiscal policy, but the central bank is making progress.  Today's topline number was 6.4%. Excluding food and energy the core rate was 5.6%.  READ MORE

Goldman Sachs CEO on probability of economic soft landing

David Solomon on Tuesday discussed the probability of the U.S. economy experiencing a soft landing.

"What I’d say is, while it’s still very, very uncertain, the consensus has shifted to be a little bit more dovish in the CEO community that we can navigate through this in the United States with a softer economic landing than what people would have expected six months ago," the Goldman Sachs CEO said at the Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum. READ MORE

“Corporate Citizen, Police Thyself”: How the DOJ Is Changing Its Corporate Enforcement Policy to Encourage Self-Policing

Few executives expect to interact with the Department of Justice (DOJ) during their careers, but the current DOJ has given companies some homework, and the assignment applies to everyone. Recent changes to the DOJ’s corporate enforcement policy are designed to encourage companies to self-monitor for illegal activity and to self-report misconduct to authorities. Given the implications of the changes, even smaller companies and those in lightly regulated industries should be paying attention. READ MORE