Welcome to Markets Desk, your midday read on what's moving markets and the broader economy.
The labor market is sending a clear signal about where value lives in the age of AI. A review of millions of job listings finds that tech employers aren't hiring less, they're hiring differently. Judgment, system design, and the ability to work alongside AI tools are now the premium skills, while routine technical tasks face the sharpest automation pressure. Entry-level workers are feeling that squeeze most directly.
Shifting to commodities, arabica coffee pulled back sharply on Thursday after touching four-and-three-quarter-month highs earlier in the session. September arabica futures settled down nearly three percent as profit-taking and long liquidation swept through the market ahead of the holiday weekend. Robusta held modest gains, finishing fractionally higher, leaving the complex in a split close.
And in equities, SpaceX's public market debut generated considerable excitement, but the stock's performance over the past couple of weeks has been uneven. The question investors are now wrestling with is whether the company's growth trajectory justifies its valuation against a straightforward position in an S and P five hundred index fund. History, as always, offers a humbling benchmark.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
