The job market says “nvm, it’s not all good.” The US private sector shed 32,000 jobs in November after adding an upward-revised 47,000 jobs the month before, according to a report released yesterday by the payroll firm ADP. The losses, led by small businesses, amounted to America’s largest private headcount dip since early 2023.

ADP’s jobs numbers—which have basked in the limelight lately as a stand-in for government data that’s been missing because of the recent shutdown—blindsided analysts who predicted that America would gain several thousand jobs.

The government’s November jobs report, which is slated to be released on Dec. 16, following a delay (and after the Fed meets next week), should provide a more complete picture of what’s up with America’s cubicles. But for now, we know that mom-and-pop establishments dragged down recent employment stats:

• Companies with fewer than 50 employees shed 120,000 workers.
• Larger companies with 50+ workers actually expanded their headcount by a cumulative 90,000—but their job growth still slowed from previous months.

Not all industries shrank staff: Manufacturing, construction, information, finance, and business and professional services reduced headcount. Meanwhile, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and natural resources and mining grew payrolls.

Why’d the jobs vanish?

Some economists say the hiring rut likely stems from consumer belt-tightening amid economic challenges, while a survey of manufacturers released this week found that some companies are slowing hiring due to uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s tariff policy.

But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC that tariffs are unrelated to the anemic hiring, instead blaming the government shutdown for squeezing small businesses. He said that the administration’s deportation ramp-up also played a role, but predicted that employment trends would soon rebound.

What is certain is that…the tough job market snapshot will give ammo to Fed officials advocating for a deeper rate cut next week amid divisions at the central bank over how aggressively to lower borrowing costs. Gold rallied on ADP’s report as investors scooped up futures for the metal that typically appears shinier when interest rates fall.—SK

Trump’s immigration crackdown comes to New Orleans and Minnesota. Federal agents arrived in New Orleans yesterday and began an immigration enforcement operation that the Department of Homeland Security said would focus on people who are in the country without authorization and have a criminal history. But many people detained in past sweeps have not had criminal records, according to federal officials, and immigrants in the city told news outlets they were fearful of leaving their homes. New Orleans is the latest Democrat-run locale to be targeted, and, as in other cities, there have been protests in response. An operation was also launched in Minnesota, a day after President Trump went on a tirade against the state’s Somali population during a Cabinet meeting, saying, “I don’t want them in our country.”

Watchdog reportedly finds Hegseth could have endangered troops with Signal chat. The Pentagon’s inspector general’s report on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to discuss a forthcoming military strike in Yemen said it could have put troops and their mission at risk—but also found that Hegseth had the power to declassify the information disclosed in the chat, sources who’d seen the findings told the Associated Press yesterday. The report is also said to note that Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using a personal device for official business. The Signal use became public after an editor from The Atlantic was accidentally included in a chat. The report comes as Hegseth faces scrutiny from lawmakers over a second strike that killed the survivors of a previous attack on an alleged drug boat.

Trump admin to roll back car fuel-efficiency standards. With executives from General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis in attendance, President Trump announced plans to weaken Biden-era fuel economy standards that were intended to help boost electric cars. Under newly proposed Department of Transportation rules, most cars would need to achieve 34.5 miles per gallon through the 2031 model year, down from the 50 miles per gallon standard adopted under former President Biden. The DOT said the proposal would save Americans $109 billion over the next five years, while critics say the change will encourage automakers to continue to focus on environmentally unfriendly vehicles that could ultimately cost consumers more at the gas pump.—AR

Eventbrite, the events and ticketing site that has an email sitting in your spam folder right now, is being acquired for $500 million by an Italian company you’ve probably never heard of: Bending Spoons. The site will join the Milan-based software conglomerate’s recognizable portfolio of stalled tech companies, like Evernote and WeTransfer, while its acquisitions of Vimeo and AOL are expected to close soon.

Who are these mysterious Italians scooping up ancient internet legends? Bending Spoons was born 12 years ago after the founders of a failed scrapbooking app pivoted to acquiring digital businesses and completely rebuilding them.

The company buys flailing subscription-based platforms at a fraction of their previous valuations. Eventbrite, for instance, was valued at $1.76 billion after its IPO in 2018. The Bending Spoons playbook typically includes laying off huge swaths of employees and quickly rebuilding everything, from coding to product pricing.

But Bending Spoons doesn’t seem to be in it for a quick buck—the company invests in long-term growth, aiming “to hold forever.” It has yet to sell any of its acquisitions.

Big picture: So far, the strategy appears to be boosting the value of Bending Spoons itself. Its most recent funding round of $710 million in October valued the company at $11 billion.—MM

One year after a rare record scratch, Spotify brought back an old favorite and included new features people actually like with the 2025 edition of Wrapped, which arrived yesterday.

After many users complained about 2024’s offering on social media, Spotify executives said they used that disappointment to fuel this year’s update to its highly anticipated year in review data dump:

• Top genres returned after an inexplicable absence last year.
• New features include top albums and audiobooks, playcounts for your top songs, a game where you guess your top song, and a “Wrapped Party” on the app that’s a “live competition you can play with friends.”
• Then there’s the potentially crushing reveal of your “listening age” based on your data. Our Executive Editor Neal Freyman’s was 92, which was only slightly older than we guessed.

Out with AI (but not entirely): Spotify received blowback in 2024 for going all-in on AI at the last minute. This year, the only celebration of AI is Listening Archive, which pinpoints trends from specific days (i.e., reminding you of the sad song you played 100 times when you were dumped on Feb. 14).

Like and subscribe: Wrapped is more than just something to share on your socials. During a Q4 earnings call, Co-president Alex Norstrom said Wrapped has “become a significant driver of our business.” It engaged 245 million users last year.—DL

Congressional staffers may be back to eating Sweetgreen at their desks and paychecks for federal workers are flowing again, but businesses are still navigating the fallout from the longest-ever US government shutdown, which ended last month. Airlines experienced some of the most turbulence from the shutdown, and Delta said yesterday it expects a $200 million hit to its bottom line.

• To ease the strain on air traffic controllers who weren’t collecting pay during the 43-day shutdown, regulators restricted traffic at 40 major airports across the country, forcing airlines to cancel flights. Delta’s CEO previously said the airline had to nix 2,000+ of them, per Bloomberg.
• The $200 million ding to its fourth-quarter profits will hit its earnings by ~$0.25 per share, Delta said.

But don’t feel too bad for the airline your AmEx-wielding friend insists on using for every trip, as Delta said demand for flights is looking robust through the end of the year and into 2026. Though booking growth flagged during the shutdown, it has since picked back up for the carrier.—AR