WSJ What’s News – PM Edition

Episode: Hiring Slowdown Spells a Weakening Labor Market
Date: September 5, 2025
Host: Alex Osoloff, The Wall Street Journal
Main Guests: Rachel Ensign (WSJ Economics Reporter), Teo Francis (WSJ Business Reporter), Tim Martin (WSJ Korea Bureau Chief)
Main Theme:
An in-depth snapshot of the weakening U.S. labor market, the implications for Federal Reserve policy, the impact of a major immigration raid on U.S.–South Korea relations, and a look at Tesla's unprecedented pay proposal for Elon Musk. The episode also covers major business headlines in health, tech, and global markets.

1. The State of the U.S. Labor Market

The Jobs Report

• Timestamps: 00:51–03:27
• The U.S. labor market has shown clear signs of slowing. The country added only 22,000 jobs in August, which is sharply below the 75,000 economists expected. Moreover, June's job numbers were revised, showing a net loss of 13,000—the first decline since December 2020.
• Post-COVID jobs boom appears to have ended, with employers now shedding jobs rather than hiring.
  • Rachel Ensign:
    "We're seeing that that [post-COVID jobs boom] seems to have ended for now." (01:51)
• Causes for weak hiring:
  • Skittish consumers cut back on spending.
  • Companies are worried about economic uncertainty.
  • Rachel Ensign:
    "Employers are not hiring, in fact they're shedding jobs... because consumers are skittish, they are not buying as much stuff in certain industries, and companies themselves are worried too." (02:09)

Political Context & Data Integrity

• Timestamps: 02:26–02:56
• This is the first jobs report since President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau confirmed there were no changes in methodology for the report.

Implications for the Fed

• Timestamps: 02:56–03:23
• With the weak report, a Fed rate cut is now seen as nearly certain at the next meeting.
  • Rachel Ensign:
    "They are all but certain to cut rates now... this report being pretty weak just seems to seal the deal." (03:09)

Key Quote

• Host Alex Osoloff:
  "22,000 jobs sounds a little low to me. Just how bad is this?" (01:26)

2. Market Reactions

• Timestamps: 03:31–04:19
• Stocks opened higher as investors bet on a Fed rate cut, but turned lower mid-morning out of concern that rate cuts alone won’t revive growth.
  • The Dow fell ~0.5%, S&P 500 dropped ~0.3%, NASDAQ little changed.

3. Tesla’s $1 Trillion Pay Proposal for Elon Musk

Details of the Compensation Plan

• Timestamps: 04:19–06:25
• Tesla's board proposes a new pay package that could net CEO Elon Musk up to $1 trillion in stock over ten years, if ambitious goals are met.
  • The pay comes in 12 chunks linked to company value milestones, starting at a $2 trillion market cap.
  • Also includes operating and product targets (e.g., car sales, subscriber numbers for full self-driving, new product launches like robots and robo-taxis).
  • If achieved, Musk's stake could rise to about 29% of Tesla.
  • Teo Francis:
    "The gist of it is if Tesla does very well, Elon Musk will do very well and he could wind up with about 29% of the shares in the company." (05:41)

Motivation for the Package

• Designed to keep Musk focused on Tesla amid his various enterprises and public threats to walk away if not given more control.
  • Teo Francis:
    "The goal first and foremost is to keep Elon Musk engaged... It's really a balancing act for the board." (05:50)

4. Immigration Raid at Hyundai’s Georgia Plant: Implications

The Raid

• Timestamps: 07:13–10:48
• Nearly 500 arrested at a Hyundai-LG battery plant under construction in Georgia; over 300 are South Korean.
• The raid was a multi-month criminal probe, not a spontaneous immigration sweep.
  • Stephen Schrank (Homeland Security):
    "This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses..." (07:36)

Broader Context

• The Georgia plant is part of a $7.6 billion Hyundai investment, described as the largest in state history.
• Many of the South Korean detainees were reportedly in the U.S. on visas for training or specialist work.
  • Tim Martin:
    "The majority of these South Koreans are there on visas that allow some type of training, and they're there to help the workers on the ground carry out their work." (08:40)

Diplomatic/Trade Tensions

• The raid stokes fresh tensions in U.S.–South Korea relations against a backdrop of difficult trade talks and massive South Korean investment plans in the U.S.
• South Korean officials were reportedly not warned in advance, heightening frustration.
• Uncertainty about visas could complicate future investments.
  • Tim Martin:
    "If South Korean companies feel like their employees could be detained at a moment's notice, that will give them pause." (10:39)
  • "This has thrown a lot of uncertainty and questions into an already complex and ambitious investment plan by South Korea." (10:47)

5. Other Major Headlines

Health: Autism & Prenatal Tylenol

• Timestamps: 10:48–11:21
• The Dept. of Health & Human Services may soon link low folate and Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism, pending a report expected from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Tylenol maker Ken View stock dropped ~9% on this news.
• Medical authorities still advise consulting doctors before use; evidence is mixed.

Tech: Google Fined by EU

• The EU fined Google nearly $3.5 billion for antitrust violations in its ad tech tools. It's the second largest EU tech fine ever.
• Google must resolve "inherent conflicts of interest," possibly by divesting some ad businesses.

AI Copyright Lawsuit

• AI firm Anthropic agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit over use of copyrighted books to train models.
• The settlement could set precedents for other AI–media legal battles and may mean more licensing deals are coming.

6. Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• Rachel Ensign on the end of the jobs boom:
  "There was this huge post Covid boom and in the last few months we're seeing that that seems to have ended for now." (01:51)
• Teo Francis on Tesla's deal:
  "It's really a balancing act for the board because they want to give him [Musk] an incentive to pay attention to Tesla rather than getting distracted by politics or any of the other companies he runs." (05:54)
• Tim Martin on U.S.–Korea relations:
  "This has thrown a lot of uncertainty and questions into an already complex and ambitious investment plan by South Korea." (10:47)

7. Episode Structure & Timestamps

• 00:32–03:27: Labor Market: Data, Fed Implications, Analysis (with Rachel Ensign)
• 03:31–04:19: Market Reaction
• 04:19–06:25: Tesla Board Proposes $1T Pay for Elon Musk (with Teo Francis)
• 07:13–10:48: Hyundai Plant Immigration Raid, Diplomatic Fallout (with Tim Martin)
• 10:48–End: Major Headlines – Autism Report, EU Google Fine, Anthropic Lawsuit

Summary Takeaways

• The U.S. labor market is showing clear signs of weakness, likely leading to a Fed rate cut.
• Market optimism about rate cuts quickly gave way to worries about whether such moves can revive growth.
• Tesla’s jaw-dropping pay proposal for Elon Musk could reshape how high-stakes executive incentives are structured.
• The Hyundai immigration raid has injected tension into U.S.–Korea trade talks, which could threaten or delay significant investment flows.
• Major regulatory, legal, and health stories in tech and business are pointing toward a period of uncertainty and transition in several sectors.