Today’s Big Story

Layoffs Are Surging

Corporate profits are soaring even as layoffs mount. Economists call it a ‘jobless boom’

The American labor market is showing some deep and troubling cracks, with U.S.-based companies announcing the most job cuts for October in over two decades. The grim statistics paint a picture of an economy under severe strain, battered by corporate cost-cutting measures and the continued economic turmoil from policies enacted by the Trump administration.

Announced job cuts last month climbed by more than 153,000, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Thursday, up 175% from the same month a year earlier and the highest October increase since 2003. Layoff announcements surpassed more than a million in first 10 months of this year, an increase of 65% compared to the same period last year.

“This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008. Like in 2003, a disruptive technology is changing the landscape,” the report said.

The wave of current layoffs is crashing across multiple sectors. In recent weeks, Target announced it would eliminate 1,800 roles, representing about 8% of its corporate jobs in a major restructuring. Amazon said it would slash 14,000 corporate positions. This follows a stark warning from its CEO that the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence will inevitably shrink the company’s workforce.

Not everyone thinks AI is driving the recent bout of layoffs, though. Instead, the job cuts are more likely due to businesses recalibrating their needs after the pandemic, when many employers expanded and may have overhired, one recruitment executive told CBS News. “Companies feel more emboldened to cut workers now because it's easier to find new talent than during the pandemic, when the labor market was tighter, he said. Papas also believes businesses that point to AI as a reason for layoffs are using it more as a buzzword.”

Investors don’t seem to be hurting. As corporate profits rise and the stock market hits new highs, shareholders are ones reaping the rewards. The disconnect between soaring company earnings and mounting layoffs amounts to what Chen Zhao, chief global strategist at investment research firm Alpine Macro, calls a “jobless boom.” Typically, layoffs accelerate when companies are struggling with declining profitability and need to pare costs. That’s not what’s happening here.

Judge Orders Trump to Release Full SNAP Benefits

Judge John McConnell said USDA is causing “irreparable harm” by not releasing full funding

As the longest U.S. government shutdown in history continues, everyone is being affected in different ways. Some are dealing with travel delays and cancelations, while others, like “essential government workers” go without pay. And nearly 42 million Americans who relied on food stamps were denied assistance after the Trump administration delayed aid saying they ran out of funds.

But on Thursday, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the White House to release full funding for November’s food assistance benefits by later today. It comes after the partial funding disbursed by the Agriculture Department earlier this week had yet to reach those who qualify for the benefits. “The court was clear that the administration had to either make the full payment by this past Monday, or it must ‘expeditiously resolve the administrative and clerical burdens it described in its papers,’ but under no circumstances shall the partial payments be made later than Wednesday, November 5th, 2025,” Judge John J. McConnell Jr. said in his oral ruling. “The record is clear that the administration did neither.”

Under McConnell’s new ruling, the government must tap into billions of additional dollars held by USDA in a separate pot of money so full SNAP benefits can be paid. The judge said those payments needed to be made to states, which administer the program. Still, many beneficiaries may have to wait at least a few more days to see the assistance, depending on where they live. States send food stamp enrollees’ information to vendors every month so they can load funds onto recipients’ benefit cards, often days or weeks before the new month begins. Those steps need to take place before benefits can restart. Plus, the Justice Department is appealing the decision to the court of appeals, so let’s see what happens.

Nancy Pelosi Announces Retirement

Two Democrats have already announced their campaigns in her San Francisco district, and others may join the race soon

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the nation’s first female speaker of the House, announced that she will not seek re-election in 2026. The 85-year-old California Democrat led her party in the House for two decades and her decision will open up her San Francisco-based seat for the first time in nearly 40 years. And the news is now touching off a new round of debate about the congressional Democrats in their 70s and 80s who are resisting calls to retire.

Pelosi was one of dozens of older House Democrats being challenged by a younger primary challenger in what could have proved to be an expensive intra-party battle. After her announcement, several Democratic insurgents challenging older incumbents were quick to highlight their races. “I hope more Democratic members of Congress follow her example and pass the torch,” former DNC vice chair David Hogg, whose PAC Leaders We Deserve is trying to unseat older Democratic incumbents, said of Pelosi.

That’s certainly nicer than what President Donald Trump said. He called her an “evil woman” who did a “poor job, who cost the country a lot in damages and in reputation. I thought she was terrible." Then again, what’s he going to say about the person who presided over both of his impeachments—the first in 2019 over allegations of abuse of power and the second in 2021 after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6? She also skipped his second inauguration.

NFL’s Record-Shattering Kicking Season

This offseason, the NFL made a small tweak to the rules governing so-called “K-Balls”

Did you notice? This football season has seen seven field goals made from 60-plus yards, setting a new record, with Jaguars kicker Cam Little achieving a 68-yard field goal. How? Well, the NFL made a small tweak to the rules governing so-called “K-Balls” and it led to a significant increase in kicking performance.

NFL kickers used to really work footballs before games in the 1990s. According to ESPN, there were tales of teams cooking footballs in ovens, steaming them in saunas, tumbling them in dryers, filling them with helium, whatever they could do to make them softer and fatter, which allows the football to travel farther. But that stopped in 1999, when the NFL put an end to the practice by introducing special K-Balls, which were used exclusively for kicking and punting. “The balls, which were delivered directly from the manufacturer to the officiating crew before each game, could be so stiff that kickers felt like they were driving their foot into an anvil.”

Professional kickers have been growing more powerful for years, but this season they received an additional leg up. Since the NFL made a little-noticed change that gave teams access to the balls long before game day, it has quickly ushered in a year of supercharged kicking. On Sunday, Jaguars kicker Cam Little broke the NFL record by nailing a 68-yard field goal, and these days that’s barely an outlier. There have already been seven makes from 60-plus yards, the most in a single season, and we’re only nine weeks in.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Frankenstein ‘ + a Corpse Reviver Cocktail

Find your motivation.