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  • Alternative Labor Market Indicators

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Alternative indicators from Revelio Labs, ADP, Challenger, MacroEdge, LinkUp, Indeed, Paychex, NFIB, San Francisco Fed and state-level jobless claims show a labor market that is still doing well.

    Most importantly, there are no signs of a sudden rise in unemployment for cyclical reasons or AI reasons.

    Our chart book with alternative indicators for the labor market is available here.

    Weekly labor market stress indicator
    Note: Data represent the count of US states (including DC) experiencing accelerating unemployment as defined in Garimella, Jordà & Singh (2025). Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Bloomberg, Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist
    Revelio labs monthly job growth
    Sources: Revelio Labs, Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist
    Job cut announcements
    Notes: MacroEdge job-cuts tracker aggregates public job-cut announcements using four inputs: DailyJobCuts.com, state WARN notices, TrueUp, and Google News.
    Challenger Gray & Christmas data are compiled from company press releases, news reports, and SEC filings. Sources: MacroEdge, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Haver Analytics, Apollo Chief Economist
    ADP weekly job growth
    Sources: ADP, Bloomberg, Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist
    Weekly job openings
    Notes: The LinkUp 10,000 index captures the sum of US job openings from the top 10,000 global employers with the most US-based job openings. Sources: LinkUp, Bloomberg, Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • 25% of the US Population Are Subprime

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Roughly 25% of the US adult population have a FICO score below 660, see chart below.

    About 25% of the US population has a subprime credit score
    Sources: Equifax, Federal Reserve Bank of New York via FRED, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Fewer Tech Jobs Are in California

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    A smaller and smaller share of all tech jobs in the US are in California, see chart below.

    Ongoing decline in the share of US tech jobs that are located in California
    Note: Tech jobs are defined as total employment across (1) computer systems design and related services; (2) computer and electronic product manufacturing; (3) software publishers; (4) computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting and related services; (5) media streaming distribution services, social networks and other media networks and content providers, and (6) web search portals, libraries, archives and other information services. Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • The current debate about electricity prices is misguided. Inflation in electricity prices needs to be compared with inflation in the overall CPI, and over the past decade, electricity prices have increased exactly as fast as the overall price level in the economy, see chart below.

    Over the past decade, electricity prices have increased exactly as fast as the rest of the CPI
    Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Macrobond, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • K-Shaped Economy Also for Corporates

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Since the beginning of the year, profit margins have increased for the Magnificent Seven and declined for everyone else, see chart below.

    Profit margins rising for the S&P 7 and declining for the S&P 493
    Sources: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Credit Cycle Improving

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The weekly data for bankruptcy filings shows a clear downtrend in recent months, see chart below.

    Weekly bankruptcy filings declining
    Note: Filings are for companies with more than $50mn in liabilities. For week ending on October 28, 2025. Sources: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Rising Number of Public Companies Taken Private

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    The number of publicly listed companies has declined by 50% since the mid-1990s, and there is a rising trend in the number of public companies that are taken private, see chart below.

    A rising number of public companies are taken private
    Data as of October 13, 2025. Note: 2025 numbers are annualized. Sources: PitchBook, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Global investment in clean energy is rising, and Europe is accounting for the biggest share, see charts below.

    Global investment in clean energy rising steadily
    Sources: IEA, Apollo Chief Economist
    Europe leads in global clean energy investment
    Sources: IEA, Apollo Chief Economist
    Sweden leads EU in green bond issuance
    Sources: European Environment Agency, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • Hyperscaler Capex Spending

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    Hyperscalers are currently spending a record high 60% of their operating cash flow on capex, see chart below.

    Capex share of operating cash flow for hyperscalers: 60%
    Sources: Bloomberg, Apollo Chief Economist

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  • 5,426 Data Centers in the US

    Torsten Slok

    Apollo Chief Economist

    There are about 5,500 data centers in the US, and in Germany there are 529, see chart below. The bottom line is that the rest of the world is far behind the US when it comes to AI.

    More data centers in the US than in all other major countries combined
    Note: Data as of March 2025. Sources: Statista, Cloudscene, Apollo Chief Economist

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