🤯 Markets cheer Fed

Plus: Layoff inequities | Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Babbel   Axios Closer By Hope King and Nathan Bomey · Feb 01, 2023 Wednesday. ✅ Today's newsletter is 688 words, a 2½-minute read. 🚨 Situational awareness: Meta's stock popped 19% after hours on a fourth-quarter revenue beat. (CNBC) 🔔 The dashboard: The S&P 500 closed up 1.1%, rallying on the Fed's rate hike announcement (see below). Biggest gainer? Advanced Micro Devices (+12.6%), the chip company, reported better-than-expected results after yesterday's close and showed strength in the pivotal server market. Biggest decliner? WestRock (-12.7%), the paper manufacturer, missed earnings expectations in its fiscal first quarter.     1 big thing: Rethinking last in, first out Illustration: Megan Robinson/Axios   Using a last-in, first-out filter for layoffs can lead to a disproportionate number of women and people of color losing their jobs, Hope writes. State of play: Underrepresented communities are more likely to be later hires — particularly among businesses that have pushed for greater diversity across their ranks, like those in tech. "It's a real conundrum for companies that have just spent a lot of time and effort and energy trying to make those changes," Andy Challenger, senior vice president at outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, tells Axios. By the numbers: Women made up 39% of the tech sector toward the end of 2022, but accounted for 47% of the layoffs, according to trackers cited by Reuters. Latino workers, who were less than 10% of the sector, made up 12% of total layoffs. Zoom out: There's no uniform way that companies make cuts. There's been over-hiring, overly optimistic projections and a complete change in the cost of capital — all of which require unique adjustments. And indeed, there is recent evidence to suggest that tenure is no longer the be-all, end-all factor in downsizings. The big picture: Regardless of the formula, systemic inequities and unconscious biases continue to place the most vulnerable people in the economy at the forefront of new economic risks — as they have been at every turn of the pandemic. "There are still questions in employers' minds about the flexibility of a woman over a man," Judith DeVries, director of learning at Challenger Gray & Christmas, says. Meanwhile, tenure — which last-in, first-out filters try to reward — is, for example, undoubtedly harder for some women to attain, particularly for mothers who have had to pause their jobs for child care. What to watch: Layoffs so far have been concentrated in high-skill markets, while labor remains in high demand for retail and service jobs that are held disproportionately by women and people of color. But if the economy weakens, the pain may spread to these sectors as well.     2. Charted: TikTok is irresistible Data: Brex; Chart: Axios Visuals TikTok continues to defy ad-spending slowdown trends, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva has found. While venture capital-backed startups withdrew from bigger platforms like Facebook and Google, they ramped up significantly on TikTok advertising. Continue reading.     3. What's happening 🤨 Adani Enterprises, the subject of fraud allegations from a short-seller, abandoned its $2.5 billion share sale. (Reuters) ✏️ The College Board changed AP African American studies curriculum after criticism from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Axios)     A message from Babbel Don't just see the world — stop and say "Olá" or "Hola"     'Tis the season to learn Spanish or Portuguese with Babbel, a platform built by more than 150 expert linguists. With daily 10-minute lessons, including videos and live classes with top teachers, you'll be able to hold actual conversations in as little as 3 weeks. Get up to 55% off for a limited time.     4. Fed sounds cautious optimism The Federal Reserve headquarters building in Washington. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP   Fed chair Jerome Powell was attempting a tricky balance today. He wanted to acknowledge some real progress toward inflation coming down, while not declaring victory too soon, Axios' Neil Irwin writes. That's why he said that it is "gratifying to see the disinflationary process now getting underway" while also all but committing the Fed to at least two more interest rate hikes before pausing. Between the lines: Financial markets are not buying it. Treasury yields fell sharply during his news conference, and stocks rallied, as markets seemed to hear Powell's optimistic tones and ignored his emphasis on not ending its campaign against inflation prematurely. It is part of an unusual dynamic that has taken hold in which anything short of max hawkishness is interpreted as dovishness. The bottom line: The risk ahead is that markets rally so much as to make it harder for the Fed's attempts to bring down inflation to finish the job.   Share Axios and earn rewards If you like this newsletter, your friends may, too! Refer your friends and get free Axios swag when they sign up. Be a good friend and share   5. Beyoncé's world Photo: Mason Poole/A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images   Beyhives lit up this morning after Beyoncé announced her first solo world tour in seven years, Hope writes. Details: First on the list are 15 shows in Europe, starting with Stockholm on May 10. In July, Philly kicks off her 24-city U.S. leg, which hits Nashville, Louisville, Minneapolis, Chicago, D.C., Dallas and Houston before coming to a close in New Orleans. The big picture: Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour will be another test for Ticketmaster. The company has come under immense scrutiny after its platform crashed last year under the strain of demand for Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Go deeper.     6. What they're saying "I won't be long-winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year." — Tom Brady, in a 53-second selfie video announcing his ACTUAL retirement today.     A message from Babbel How to make 2023 your year of adventure aventura     The end of the year is a great time to prepare for the journey ahead — like learning a new language for future travels. How it's done: Babbel teaches 10-minute daily language lessons for real-world use that even help improve your pronunciation and accent. Learn French or Italian in just 3 weeks.   Today's newsletter was edited by Pete Gannon and copy edited by Sheryl Miller. Editor's note: Yesterday we incorrectly wrote that the Super Bowl was the most-watched telecast in the world. It is the most watched in the U.S. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Join the thousands of professionals using Axios Pro to keep up with the companies, deals and trends changing their industries.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: