From 11 Sept 2025Closing postA quick recapMore clouds are gathering over the US economy, as new data shows a rise in joblessness as inflation picks up.Applications for US unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level in almost four years; Initial claims rose by 27,000 to 263,000 in the week to 6 September, the highest since October 2021.This latest sign of a weakening jobs market has pushed shares higher on Wall Street, as investors anticipate cuts to US interest rates.That’s despite US inflation rising in August, with the consumer prices up by 2.9% over the last year, up from 2.7% in July.Rising food and housing costs were a factor, while economists warned that companies were passing on the cost of tariffs to consumers.In the eurozone, the European Central Bank has left interest rates on hold today, while nudging some of its growth and inflation forecasts a litte higher.In the UK, the owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has said its losses nearly tripled to £88m in the first half of this year, as it took a hit from restructuring costs as well as new tax and regulatory charges.John Lewis Partnership, which operates 36 department stores and more than 300 Waitrose supermarkets, said new packaging regulations and increased national insurance contributions had cost it £29m, while it spent £54m on restructuring its business, mainly on replacing outdated technology.As a result, the employee-owned group’s half year pre-tax losses widened from £30m over the same period a year before, despite a 4% rise in sales to £6.2bn in the six months to 26 July.Key events11 Sept 2025Closing post11 Sept 2025Wall Street opens higher on rate cut hopes11 Sept 2025Experts: Fed likely to cut rates to help weak jobs market11 Sept 2025New US unemployment claims hit near four-year high11 Sept 2025Companies 'passing rising costs from tariffs onto consumers'11 Sept 2025Tariffs 'clearly hitting' as US inflation rises11 Sept 2025US inflation rises to 2.9%11 Sept 2025ECB lifts inflation forecast for 2025 and 202611 Sept 2025New ECB growth forecasts11 Sept 2025ECB leaves eurozone interest rates on hold11 Sept 2025Tube strike latest11 Sept 2025Turkey cuts interest rates by more than expected11 Sept 2025German exports threatened by trade war tariffs, and weak demand11 Sept 2025Ryanair boss warns Russia-Ukraine war will be issue for airlines for years11 Sept 2025BAE Systems leads FTSE 100 risers11 Sept 2025John Lewis results: What the analysts say11 Sept 2025Tube lines suspended as final day of strike gets underway11 Sept 2025Introduction: Losses widen at John Lewis amid rising costsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureWall Street opens higher on rate cut hopesWall Street’s main indexes have opened higher, despite today’s data showing a jump in unemployment claims and consumer prices.Rather than worrying about the state of the labor market, traders seem to be betting that the US Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates next week.The Dow Jones industrial average has risen by 218 points, or 0.5%, in early trading to 45,708 points.The broader S&P 500 index is 0.25% higher.Analysts at ING agree that the Fed’s focus is now the jobs market.James Knightley, ING’s chief international economist, explains: