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Por Alicia Wallace, CNN

El breve cierre del Gobierno de EE.UU. ha retrasado el informe oficial de empleo de enero (los datos se publicarán el 11 de febrero en lugar del próximo viernes). Sin embargo, un primer análisis de la actividad de contratación en el sector privado mostró que el crecimiento del empleo se estancó en el comienzo del año.

La empresa ADP, líder en nóminas, informó este miércoles que los empleadores del sector privado crearon solo 22.000 empleos en enero, aproximadamente la mitad de los 45.000 empleos que esperaban los economistas. El crecimiento del empleo se desaceleró aún más con respecto al crecimiento del empleo de diciembre, que se revisó a la baja de 41.000 a 37.000.

El crecimiento del empleo en enero se debió en su totalidad a la continua contratación en los sectores de la educación y la salud, que crearon aproximadamente 74.000 empleos, según el informe de ADP. El sector sanitario, que está creciendo debido al envejecimiento de la población, ha sido uno de los pocos que ha experimentado una expansión constante del empleo en los últimos años.

“Hemos visto reducida la creación de empleo a uno o dos sectores”, declaró Nela Richardson, economista jefa de ADP, el miércoles en una conferencia telefónica con periodistas.

En cuanto a la gran mayoría de los demás sectores, la contratación se ha mantenido a la baja o ha experimentado una disminución del empleo en un mercado laboral cada vez menos dinámico.

En enero, ADP estimó que el sector de servicios profesionales y empresariales perdió 57.000 empleos, la mayor pérdida para ese sector desde agosto de 2024. El sector manufacturero, que ha perdido empleos mensualmente desde marzo de 2024, registró una pérdida neta de 8.000 empleos el mes pasado.

“Un crecimiento débil y altamente concentrado en el mercado laboral se traduce en un crecimiento más débil en toda la economía”, escribió Elizabeth Renter, economista jefa de NerdWallet, en una nota este miércoles. “Cuando el mercado laboral crea menos empleos (y los pierde en algunos sectores), la economía pierde dinamismo”.

La contratación se ha desacelerado significativamente en los últimos años, y el mercado laboral estadounidense se ha asentado en un estado de “poca contratación y poco despido”.

“Para los hogares, esto puede significar menos oportunidades de ascenso profesional y aumentos salariales”, afirmó Renter. “Y para quienes no tienen trabajo, mayor dificultad para encontrar un nuevo empleo”.

Aun así, a pesar de las débiles ganancias mensuales, el crecimiento salarial se ha mantenido estable para quienes han logrado permanecer en el mercado laboral.

“Ese es el equilibrio entre la oferta y la demanda de mano de obra”, afirmó Richardson.

El crecimiento salarial anual de quienes permanecieron en sus empleos fue del 4,5 % en enero.

“Es una cifra sólida; es una cifra superior a la que observábamos antes de la pandemia, cuando la tasa de desempleo era aproximadamente un punto porcentual inferior a la actual”, afirmó.

Las ganancias salariales para quienes cambiaron de trabajo se desaceleraron del 6,6 % al 6,4 % en enero.

El último informe de ADP incluyó una revisión anual donde las estimaciones de empleo anteriores se compararon con los datos del Censo Trimestral de Empleo y Salarios hasta marzo de 2025. El Censo Trimestral de Empleo y Salarios (QCEW), aunque con retraso, ofrece una visión más completa de la actividad de contratación, ya que se basa en las declaraciones trimestrales de impuestos de las empresas para el seguro de desempleo.

El crecimiento del empleo no fue tan sombrío como sugerían las cifras iniciales de ADP, afirmó Renter de NerdWallet, y añadió que el último informe confirma aún más la desaceleración observada en el mercado laboral durante el último año.

Aun así, el informe de ADP es solo una pieza del rompecabezas para determinar la evoluc

By David Goldman, CNN

(CNN) — “Reclaiming my time” made a comeback Wednesday – and with it, Rep. Maxine Waters added a new, made-for-TikTok tag: “Can you shut him up?”

The fiery exchange between Waters, the Democratic ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the famous 2017 standoff between Waters and President Donald Trump’s first-term Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. That’s when Waters’ repeated use of the phrase “reclaiming my time” went viral.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Bessent frequently talked over Waters, trying to correct the California congresswoman’s message about tariffs and inflation. When multiple “reclaiming my time” catchphrase drops failed to stop Bessent from speaking, Waters turned to Committee Chairman French Hill and asked for help in silencing Bessent – assistance that never arrived.

Theatrics aside, the substance of Waters and Bessent’s argument is critical to the ongoing debate about Issue No. 1 for American voters in this year’s midterms: affordability.

The exchange

Waters noted that tariffs have caused certain prices to rise and asked Bessent, “Are tariffs inflationary?”

“According to the San Francisco Federal Reserve with 150 years of data, tariffs do not cause inflation,” Bessent replied.

Waters disagreed, citing rising prices for certain goods, such as coffee and bananas. Then she argued that some of the Trump administration’s high tariffs were making homes less affordable at a time when the cost of buying a home feels out of reach to many Americans.

“One clear reason the housing crisis has grown worse is that you and the rest of the Trump administration levied tariffs on housing production goods like lumber and steel,” Waters said.

“Congresswoman, lumber is at a five-year low. Let’s just have the facts,” Bessent interjected to Waters’ shouts of “reclaiming my time.”

After Bessent stopped talking, Waters demanded a “yes or no” response to whether Bessent would serve as a “voice of reason” on affordability in the Trump administration.

Bessent was having none of it.

“You seem confused as to the definition of inflation,” Bessent said. “The biggest reason for the housing increase was the mass of unfettered immigration you let in.”

“Can you shut him up?” Waters demanded.

“Can you maintain some level of dignity?” Bessent retorted.

The inflation argument

Both Waters and Bessent raised important points that help explain some of the divide between historically low American consumer sentiment and a by-most-measures booming US economy.

Waters is correct: Tariffs have raised certain prices, including coffee and bananas – particularly before the administration late last year reversed course and exempted some produce that doesn’t grow in the United States from its tariff regime. Furniture, some clothing and other items that are made almost exclusively overseas have also risen in price.

But Bessent is also correct: Historically, major increases in tariffs don’t cause broad-based inflation.

How is that possible?

The San Francisco Fed report Bessent cites notes that major increases in tariffs tend to cause businesses and consumers to grow uncertain

By Dana O’Neil, CNN

(CNN) — In a strange way, the brazen push from professional players to recalibrate their collegiate eligibility might help the NCAA in its fight to get its arms around its product.

NCAA president Charlie Baker has been nearly begging Congress to help streamline the wayward laws currently governing college athletics to no avail. Charles Bediako’s temporary restraining order to play at Alabama – coupled with former UCLA Bruin Amari Bailey’s claim that he, too, wants to go back to school – might be the proverbial straw on the congressional camel.

“Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on much, but they have been nearly universally surprised and rocked by what’s going on in the eligibility space,’’ Baker told CNN Sports. “Several people kind of looked at me and said, ‘Oh, no wonder why you’re talking to us about the rules.’ That’s a positive. Sometimes you need to get to the point of the theater of the absurd.’’

On a plentiful plate of issues to handle – point shaving and gambling, transfer portal and NIL regulations – Baker said that the eligibility issue is feeling the hottest burner. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled Friday in Alabama for Bediako, who has been playing for the Crimson Tide since January 24 despite playing for four different G-League teams and at one point signing a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs.

The judge who granted Bediako the temporary restraining order has since recused himself after reports surfaced that he is an Alabama booster.

What concerns Baker is that none of these decisions are made in a vacuum. Bediako’s attempt to sway the local courts already has spurred at least one copycat.

Bailey, who played 10 games in the NBA after being selected in the second round in the 2023 NBA draft, has said he would like to return to Westwood. He has hired a lawyer but has yet to file a lawsuit.

“This is potentially about every single kid who left college with any eligibility left – and not just in basketball but in any sport,’’ he said. “The bright line, if you go to college and you leave and sign a professional contract, that’s it. It’s done. I shudder to think of the consequences of one kid, one case changing the dynamic of all of it.’’

He points to not just high school athletes who could be denied roster spots should they be claimed by ex-pros, but the trickle-down that such decisions could cause. An already clogged transfer portal could potentially become even more overstuffed if players on college rosters feel like their minutes might be threatened by a pro back on the bench.

Baker also threw cold water on the argument that proponents, including Alabama head coach Nate Oats have made, arguing that the NCAA system allows professionals from overseas teams to join college rosters.

“They aren’t coming to school, leaving school and then trying to come back,’’ he said. “That’s where the whole thing falls apart. It’s false equivalencies to make these claims about someone who never went to college before.’’

The reason the NCAA needs Congress, Baker stressed, is that the court system is set up to judge one case on its merits, but the decisions create precedent that the NCAA then must honor.

He points to Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who sued the NCAA in November 2024 and won a preliminary injunction to allow him to play this past season. He led the Commodores to their bes