No jobs report? We're still on the case

Summary

Podcast Summary: Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: No jobs report? We're still on the case
Host: David Brancaccio (Marketplace)
Date: October 3, 2025
Duration: ~10 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode airs as the federal government experiences a partial shutdown, halting the release of the monthly jobs report, a crucial economic indicator. Host David Brancaccio compensates by gleaning insights from alternative data sources and expert guests. The show also explores the shutdown’s effects on healthcare for seniors and reflects on higher education decisions in an era of technological disruption. Key voices include economist Julia Coronado and retired high school counselor Steve Schneider.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. No Official Jobs Report – Economic “Instrument Flying”

• [00:36–02:37]
  • Context: The government shutdown leads to the cancellation of the monthly unemployment and jobs report, considered among the top five economic reports each month.
  • Economist Julia Coronado compares the experience to "instrument flying"—navigating without the usual economic visibility.

    “It's a little bit of withdrawal over here trying to figure out the landscape of the labor market with very, very little to go.”
    —Julia Coronado, [01:18]

  • The private sector ADP payroll report (substitute for the official numbers) showed private sector job losses, and contrary to expectations, job losses are not limited to the federal sector.
  • State-level unemployment claims remain low, indicating no surge in layoffs yet—a reassuring sign.

    “Filings for unemployment insurance remain low. We are not seeing a spike spike in layoffs as of yet and that's the good news.”
    —Julia Coronado, [02:15]

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2. Brief Market and Pop Culture Update

• [02:38–03:32]
  • Markets open to gains across the board:
    • Dow: Up 0.6%
    • S&P: Up 0.4%
    • Nasdaq: Up 0.3%
  • Pop culture note: Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Life of a Showgirl, sells 8 million album equivalents amid mixed reviews—“a triumphant pop victory lap” (BBC), “too upbeat versus not enough emo” (Financial Times, Guardian).

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3. Impact of Shutdown on Senior Healthcare Programs

• [04:02–05:55]
  • Reporter Nancy Marshall Genzer examines consequences for seniors relying on Medicare programs expanded during the pandemic:
    • Telehealth: Telehealth appointments now only covered for seniors in rural areas—urban and suburban seniors could lose access.
    • Hospital at Home: The innovative home hospitalization program no longer funded; potentially disruptive for some patients.
  • Consequences:
    • Patients may be discharged or forced back to crowded hospitals.
    • Telehealth providers might continue service, hoping for retroactive payment, but may require seniors to sign waivers accepting possible billing responsibility.

      “Providers could make telehealth patients sign waivers saying they'll pick up the tab if Medicare won't eventually pay.”
      —Nancy Marshall Genzer, [05:29]

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4. The Changing Landscape of Higher Education & the Job Market

• [05:55–09:21]
  • Guest: Steve Schneider, retired high school guidance counselor (Sheboygan, WI), reflects on post-pandemic trends:
    • No “snap-back” surge in college attendance post-pandemic, but “deliberate” decision-making by families continues.
    • Career planning is unsettled by AI-driven transformation; stable jobs like accounting or paralegal work could be automated:

      “Paralegals...that position may be gone in a couple years.”
      “A lot of that work on data analysis for insurance companies—probably going to go AI.”
      —Steve Schneider, [08:29]

    • Counselors now stress transferable skills and flexibility, urging students to consider what they actually like about each career to avoid being pigeonholed.
    • Career uncertainty is not new, but technological disruption adds a “new wrinkle.”

      “A lot of that unsure feeling about the future, I mean, that's been around since forever. This is a new wrinkle. Right now we have a new player in the game. AI is going to change this future.”
      —Steve Schneider, [07:34]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the loss of jobs data:

  “Is that how you feel today without the big unemployment report?”
  “That's right. It's a little bit of withdrawal over here...”
  —David Brancaccio & Julia Coronado, [01:04–01:18]

• On sector job losses:

  “ADP suggests that private sector companies are also not hiring such that we're actually seeing job losses on balance.”
  —Julia Coronado, [01:39]

• On healthcare uncertainty for seniors:

  “Now, without the funding, Medicare will only pay for telehealth visits for seniors in rural areas. It won't pay also for the Hospital at Home program.”
  —Nancy Marshall Genzer, [04:57]

• On AI and uncertain career prospects:

  “Name a career field. Right. Paralegals...That position may be gone in a couple years. ...Data analysts...Probably going to go AI.”
  —Steve Schneider, [08:29]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:36–02:37 – Labor market data blackout & alternatives (Julia Coronado)
• 02:38–03:32 – Markets recap, Taylor Swift album release highlights
• 04:02–05:55 – How the shutdown jeopardizes senior healthcare (Nancy Marshall Genzer)
• 05:55–09:21 – High school-to-college guidance in an AI world (Steve Schneider)

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Tone & Language

• Brancaccio’s tone is conversational yet urgent, balancing wit (“instrument flying” analogy) with methodical questioning.
• Guests bring expertise with relatable metaphors (“pull out my crystal ball”), keeping the discussion accessible and resonant.

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This episode delivers a concise yet thorough scan of the day’s key economic, healthcare, and cultural stories, filling gaps left by missing federal data and contextualizing the real-world effects of the shutdown and AI upheaval.

Transcript

[A]

You can turn to Marketplace to hear from powerful leaders and everyday people about the economy and their role in it. Now we hope we can turn to you. Marketplace is facing real threats and challenges as we plan for the future. As a public media program, donations from you are an important part of our budget. Here's one action you can take right now that will have a long lasting impact. Start a monthly donation to support five bucks a month is a great place to start. Head to marketplace.org donate and thank you.

[B]

Doing some sleuthing in lieu of no unemployment report today. I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. I come to this party empty handed. The September hiring and unemployment reports are on the schedule for today, but as we anticipated, they never showed because of the partial federal government shutdown. These were are typically among the top five most significant reports of any month. Joining us from Austin is economist Julia Coronado of Macro Policy Perspectives. Morning.

[C]

Good morning.

[B]

Not to extend the metaphor too much, but when my friends take pilot lessons and they want to get their instrument rating, they put on an actual hood so they can't see out the windows and they have to use their little dials. Is that how you feel today without the big unemployment report?

[C]

That's right. It's a little bit of withdrawal over here trying to figure out the landscape of the labor market with very, very little to go. A few snippets though here and there.

[B]

Well, earlier this week we did get the ADP payroll company does its own crunching of what happened in the month just ended. You have that.

[C]

Yeah. And that wasn't good. That showed private sector job losses. We did suspect we were going to get federal job losses. But ADP suggests that private sector companies are also not hiring such that we're actually seeing job losses on balance.

[B]

I mean, typically on a Thursday when the government's not shut down, we get new claims for state unemployment benefits as a read on the health of people in the labor market. The federal government did not release their aggregate set. But what you've been piecing together, stuff from the states.

[C]

The states did release their numbers and we could sum them all up and see that filings for unemployment insurance remain low. We are not seeing a spike spike in layoffs as of yet and that's the good news.

[B]

All right. Well, we'll keep feeling our way through this. Merc economist Julio Coronado is also a professor at the University of Texas, Austin's business school. Thank you very much.

[C]

My pleasure.

[B]

Stock market is now open and The Dow is up 253.6 10% the S&P is up about 4 10%, the Nasdaq up 3/10 of a percent and one more number, 8 million the number of album equivalents sold by Taylor Swift for her last opus. If you heard Ruckus in the Night, it may have been some of the events for the release of Swift's new album, the Life of a Showgirl. There were parties at film screenings, early sales at Target stores. Our colleagues at the BBC are calling it a triumphant pop victory lap. But the Financial Times and the Guardian reviews overnight were grumpier about too upbeat versus not enough emo.

[D]

Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure, you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell oatmeal. So long, you strange soggy Break up.

[E]

With bland breakfast and taste AM PM's bacon, egg and cheese biscuit made with cage free eggs, smoked bacon and melty cheese on a buttery biscuit. AM P M Too much good stuff.

[B]

The government shutdown right now could lead to canceled online consultations with doctors for some people. At the same time, the shutdown is curbing other home health care programs for seniors. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer joins us now with more.

[F]

Nancy hey David, these are programs that were created during the pandemic for seniors on Medicare. Remember, this was a time when many hospitals were just overflowing and home health care was able to take some of the pressure off. And these programs have continued, but they're not permanent. They're just funded year by year. Both the Republican and Democratic stopgap bills to keep the government running did include.

[B]

Money for them, and among other things, that expanded the ability of some Medicare eligible seniors to get telehealth appointments instead of going in to see the doctor, which can be a long drive depending on where you live. Absolutely.

[F]

So now, without the funding, Medicare will only pay for telehealth visits for seniors in rural areas. It won't pay also for the Hospital at Home program. Now that allowed seniors to receive acute care at home, a level of care they'd normally only get in a hospital room. So hospital staff were reachable at any time, with emergency workers no more than a half hour away. Nurses visited twice a day, and patients were seen virtually by a doctor at least once a day.

[B]

So what happens to those patients now?

[F]

Well, Medicare says they either have to be discharged or moved back to the hospital. Some hospitals are still overcrowded. As far as telehealth goes, providers could keep doing telehealth appointments with seniors, hoping they can submit claims and get paid by Medicare later after the government reopens. But payment is not guaranteed. Providers could make telehealth patients sign waivers saying they'll pick up the tab if Medicare won't eventually pay.

[B]

All right, Nancy, we'll keep tracking this. Thank you. Let's take the marketplace Economic Pulse views from the economy from a wider range of perspectives today. From a high school guidance counselor who's just retired. Steve Schneider racked up nearly 30 years at Sheboygan South High School in Wisconsin. He's now an adjunct at Marquette University. Mr. Schneider, welcome.

[G]

Thanks so much for having me. David, glad to be here.

[B]

First of all, congratulations on retirement. There's a milestone for you.

[G]

Yes. 29 excellent years in education. Looking forward to however many more I have left in the next chapter.

[B]

So there you go. Next chapter. He's evaluating now. So listen, the students we talked during the depths of pandemic and, you know, a lot of people were not going off to school. What did you see in this last crop? Were you overwhelmed by the thundering herds of people trying to get into higher ed?

[G]

No, to answer that directly. Right. I mean, the pandemic was obviously it is what it was. But the creep back to what was before the pandemic, there hasn't been a snap back and there hasn't been a snap away. I think people are still just really being deliberate about thinking through as a family, as a young person, what's the right choice? Which even before the pandemic, we were getting there, which I think is a really good thing. That's a great place for kids to be.

[B]

I mean, some of it, even more so now than even a couple of years ago, is what are the jobs that are going to be available that a person might want to get an education for in this world of AI? It's a little mysterious.

[G]

Yeah, right. That's when I pull out my crystal ball in my office and we write look into the Future. And this has been the case since I started is in working with young people who are just trying to figure out, you know, they're just getting their understanding and comprehension of who they are and trying to figure out how they want to plug into the world as a young adult. They're at that building block stage. So a lot of that unsure feeling about the future, I mean, that's been around since forever. This is a new wrinkle Right now we have a new player in the game. AI is going to change this future. We're not quite sure how yet.

[B]

I know. I mean, look, if you're looking for a slam dunk career, even if the student doesn't have passion for it, people would say go into accounting. There's always going to be accountants. But we don't know, especially entry level job that would be open to you in college and coming out of college, that might be a machine that does that.

[G]

Yeah. Name a career field. Right. Paralegals. That's a great entrance into the legal field. That position may be gone in a couple years. Working for large companies. Manufacturing, which is huge here in our county. All kinds of data analysts in place here that could easily be replaced. Insurance, we've got huge insurance companies here in town. A lot of that work on data analysis for insurance companies. Probably going to go. AI so again, talking with kids about what is it about that. So if it's accounting, what is it about accounting that you really, really like? Let's see if we can break that down into what's appealing about accounting and see if we can list other possible careers where you could utilize some cross sectional skills so that you're not just pigeonholed to accounting. Necessarily. Go for it, pursue it. But if things change, you've already thought through some of the other options.

[B]

Steve Schneider, until recently a high school counselor. He did it for 29 years in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Mr. Schneider, thank you so much.

[G]

Yes, appreciate it. Thanks, David.

[B]

PhD in economics, not required. The Marketplace Economic pulse. Insights into the economy come from many directions. It's the Marketplace Morning report from APM American Public Media. Hey, it's David Brancaccio. Marketplace's fall fundraiser ends on Friday, and we're making good progress toward our goal to hear from 2,000 marketplace investors. This is a different kind of goal, one that centers on your participation. Whether it's your first ever donation, if you're chipping in again, or if you're starting or increasing a monthly gift. I'm telling you, it all matters more than ever now. So stand up and be counted as a marketplace investor. And if you can do it by Friday, go to marketplace.org donate.