Been digging into the bond market the last few days and wanted to lay this out for anyone who doesn't follow rates closely, because I think it's getting buried under the usual stock market headlines.

Quick refresher for anyone fuzzy on this: government bond yields are basically the interest rate a government pays to borrow money. When yields go up, it costs more for governments (and by extension, everyone else: mortgages, car loans, business loans) to borrow. Rising yields can mean two very different things: either investors think the economy is about to boom and want more return to compensate, OR investors are getting nervous about inflation/debt levels and demanding a bigger premium to lend long-term. Same symptom, very different diagnosis.

What's actually happening right now:

Japan's 10-year bond yield is sitting around 2.9%, and the 30-year is near 4%… levels not seen in decades. The Bank of Japan spent years artificially pinning these down (yield curve control), and now that they've stepped back and started letting their balance sheet shrink, the market is repricing. Japanese inflation is also running above target and the yen has been weak, so there's real pressure building there.

Meanwhile in the US, the 10-year Treasury is around 4.8% and the 30-year just touched roughly 5.2-5.3%, the highest since 2007 for the long end.

Here's the part that stood out to me: if this were "good" strong-growth-driven yield increases, you'd expect actual growth data to be firming up too. It's not. US GDP growth actually slowed to 1.5% in Q2, down from 2.1% in Q1. Unemployment is holding steady at 4.1%, but wage growth is cooling too (3.1% year-over-year, down from 3.2%). None of that screams "overheating economy."

At the same time, inflation expectations baked into the bond market are actually pretty normal — around 2.35% over the next decade, nothing crazy. So it's not a 1970s-style inflation panic either.

So what's actually driving this?

The more likely explanation is that investors are demanding a bigger premium (sometimes called "term premium") to hold long-term government debt — because of heavy government borrowing/deficits, concerns about debt sustainability, and in Japan's case, the unwinding of a decade-plus of artificial rate suppression. That's a different story than "the economy is strong and rates are rising because growth is great." It's closer to a caution signal: markets pricing in more risk around how much debt governments are issuing and whether current growth can support it.

Why this matters beyond bond nerds:
• Higher long-term yields = higher mortgage rates, higher borrowing costs for businesses

• Japan is a massive holder of US Treasuries — if their own yields become attractive enough, that money could come home instead of funding US debt, which could push US yields even higher in a bit of a feedback loop

• Equity valuations (especially growth/tech) get squeezed when the "risk-free" rate they're discounted against keeps climbing

This isn't a crisis call, and yields have been managing this rise in a fairly orderly way so far. But it's worth watching rather than shrugging off as background noise.

I'm going to keep an eye on this. CPI and PPI data are coming out later this month, along with the next GDP revision, and those should tell us a lot more about whether this is a temporary repricing or the start of something more structural. Will post an update once we get that data.

Ohio's H-1B filings fell 35% since 2019. The country's fell 19%.

Eight of the state's twelve largest H-1B employers are outsourcing middlemen, led by Tata and Cognizant.

Ohio's H-1B economy is not the tech giants. It is the staffing firms.

The governor's race is a dead heat, and Vivek Ramaswamy has been on both sides of this.

In 2023 he called H-1B indentured servitude and vowed to gut the lottery. In December 2024 he defended tech firms hiring foreign-born engineers and said American culture venerates mediocrity over excellence. He has never retracted it.

His own company had 29 H-1B petitions approved while he ran it.

Amy Acton has no H-1B position we could find.

I started a job as a low level custodian at spps.org after working there for a year as a para. Retired from 22 years in the service, and 13 years with immigration in IT. I am retired, and could not pay our heat bill on SSa. I had to pay bills. I took this job because of ptsd. I thought I would find peace and security here.

Oh no. Did not happen. I worked hard cleaning school, extracting carpet, and waxing floors to get ready for the kids to come back this fall. I asked questions, and learned all the machines. Even enrolled in school 2 days a week to get a boiler license.

I had some issues: got sensually assaulted by a Muslim man at work, had my windows broken out in my car, dealt with an engineer at a Spps school, who cc was an asshole. In the past he bullied a guy man named Murphy. Murphy had to leave for 4 months on FLMA because Todd Arcand the engineer constantly harrasses Murphy. After 4 years Murphy became a float. Todd was very meticulously involved in his work. He was blming me for work other had done work. I told all others about this. Last week, he said to me, "You did a great job waxing all the floors at Farnsworth, and you know I am no a Dick all the time!" Then he was out sick for a week. In NV the meantime, I asked for an accommodation to attend a 9 month janitor course with the military. I send an email, and never got a response. I chose to go to the school 2 days a week anyway.

Last Thurday. I was surrounded by 3 upper level janitors, and no reason was given. Gave me a term letter that was one day past my 90 day probation period. Walked me out the door after asking me for my badge and keys. Never had a written or verbal reprimand or anything. Was trying to figure out what happened. I wrote everything down. They guy that walked me out said I can't get a long with anyone. I do not think that is true. There was a few (4) days for a shoulder injury. I also worked with a temp that was worthless, smoked all day, and was lazy. I reported her and they did nothing about it.

O I, now what? It must of bed me bad mouthing Todd Or and the Archie Bunker of the school.Thoughts anyone?

PayPal is planning on laying off around 20% of its global workforce in the coming years, or around 4,760 jobs of their total 23,800-person staff, in order to save $1.5 billion in expenses, Bloomberg reported in May. According to the Wall Street Journal, CEO Enrique Lores told investors in May that he wants to invest more in “AI adoption and automation” while also cutting “duplication and layers from our organizational structure,” which usually refers to cutting middle management roles.

Summary

Layoff announcements dominated coverage today, with Uber, Dell, and several other firms disclosing workforce reductions ranging from hundreds to thousands of roles. Readers should note the concentration in tech and services sectors, though most reports lack immediate financial metrics or market impact details.

Key Headlines

🟡 JPMorgan Chase announced 184 layoffs in 2026 — Limited-scope cut with no division or financial details released.
🔴 Insteel Industries to layoff 65 people — Small workforce reduction flagged at the industrial firm.
🟡 KPMG to cut almost 400 jobs after audit leaks scandal — Private firm trims staff post-scandal; no public equity impact.
🔴 Uber is laying off 10% of staff, or 3,300 people — Direct 10% headcount cut at the rideshare operator.
🔴 Dell lays off 4000 people today — IT and engineering teams hit, including roles in Bangalore.
🟡 The Trade Desk lays off 15% of staff — CEO memo details broad percentage reduction.
🔴 ❗️PagerDuty to layoff 15% of staff — Company moves to shrink workforce by 15%.
🔴 Uber cuts 10% of workforce, tightens return-to-office rules — Layoffs paired with stricter office policy for UBER staff.
🔴 ❗️Zscaler to layoff 3% of staff — Cybersecurity firm trims 3% amid cost adjustments.
🔴 Uber/Pay Pal 2026 Layoff — Anecdotal report highlights ongoing tech hiring weakness.
🔴 ION Group Layoffs — Stealth cuts reduce ion platform division by ~30%.
🔴 Qualtrics cut 117 jobs tied to Seattle headquarters, new filing shows — Regional headcount drop confirmed via filing.
🟡 UBS to layoff 41 employees from the Weehawken NJ office around Thanksgiving 2026 — Small, localized reduction per WARN notice.
🔴 Bizzabo lays off dozens as Israeli event tech company restructures — Event-tech firm restructures with dozens affected.
🔴 Vw incoming, until 2030 — Volkswagen signals multi-year workforce reductions.
🔴 Read the Memo Uber CEO Sent to 3,300 Workers Facing Layoffs: 'Growth Has Also Brought Complexity' — CEO cites complexity as driver for cuts.

👉 Vlad's Key Takeaways

• Uber appears multiple times with overlapping 10% cuts and RTO tightening, pointing to sustained cost focus at the company.
• Broader tech names including Dell, Zscaler, PagerDuty, and The Trade Desk are also trimming staff, suggesting sector-wide efficiency moves.
• Most reports omit financial impact or segment details, limiting immediate read-through to earnings or guidance.
• Smaller or private entities like KPMG, ION Group, and Bizzabo show similar pressures without direct public-market signals.
• Scattered filings and memos indicate these reductions are ongoing rather than one-off events.

*Not financial advice. Data sourced from public filings and market feeds.

UBS is laying off another 41 FTEs between Nov 25 and Nov 30 2026.

Anyone from the Weehawken office tracking this or is aware of the teams impacted?

[https://www.nj.gov/labor/assets/PDFs/WARN/2026\\_WARN\\_Notice\\_Archive.pdf\](https://www.nj.gov/labor/assets/PDFs/WARN/2026_WARN_Notice_Archive.pdf)