Daily Rundown

August 7, 2026

Chart of the Day

Number of the Day

149,023

The number of layoff announcements in the technology sector since the outset of the year, accounting for 31.2 percent of the economy-wide total

Quote of the Day

“During market hours, CNBC ranked among the top ten cable networks for the fourth consecutive month and delivered its highest-rated quarter in more than five years. Coverage of the SpaceX IPO drove CNBC’s highest-rated day during that same period.”

Versant CEO Mark Lazarus

Thursday’s Highlights

Initial unemployment claims (week of 7/26) ticked up by 1,000 to 199,000.

Productivity (Q2) rose by an annualized 1.4 percent on the quarter and 2.2 percent year-over-year.

Layoff announcements (July) fell by 46.1 percent year-over-year to 33,429.

Quick Commentary

The theme heading into this morning’s jobs report has been of a labor market that remains in “low hire, low fire” mode, one that continues to be supported by booming corporate profit growth but held back by a tepid pace of overall expansion and an elevated level of uncertainty. The lack of consistently solid employment gains has in turned weighed on consumer sentiment, although, as CNBC’s recent ratings show, it has done little to dampen the growing retail interest in the financial markets.

Today’s Highlights

Employment

Consumer credit

Daily Trivia

Debuting in 1877 and sometimes known as “Larry”, what is the oldest continuously used brand mascot in the U.S.?

(Thursday’s Question: What high-flying company of the 1980s and 1990s was named for the campus-wide computer network at Stanford University? Answer: Sun Microsystems (Stanford University Network))