WSJ What’s News
WSJ What’s News

U.S. Unemployment Rises to Highest Level Since 2021

December 16, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

  • The Format: This fast-paced news briefing podcast delivers top business headlines with embedded expert analysis, anchoring listeners to the day's market-moving events in a crisp, journalistic style that's urgently informative and analytically precise.
  • The Format: A host-led news roundup with short interview clips.
  • The Key Players:
    • Sabrina Siddiqui: Host sitting in for Alex Ursula, guiding the episode with smooth transitions through global business news.
    • Ashby Jones: WSJ Deputy Economics Editor, providing live Q&A insights on the jobs report's nuances.
    • Jonathan Weil: WSJ reporter and Heard on the Street columnist, dissecting SEC policy risks on stock scams.
    • Kim McCrail: WSJ journalist, explaining EU policy shifts on vehicle emissions.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 `(00:44)` **Show Introduction**
  • 2 `(01:01)` **Warner Bros. Discovery Rejects Paramount Bid**
  • 3 `(01:27)` **US Jobs Report: Unemployment Hits 4.6%**
  • 4 `(03:07)` **Stock Markets Mixed Post-Jobs Report**
  • 5 `(03:24)` **JOBS Act Loosens IPO Rules, Fuels Stock Scams**
  • 6 `(06:31)` **Republicans Close Door on ACA Subsidies Renewal**
  • 7 `(07:55)` **EU Waters Down 2035 Combustion Engine Ban**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

P.M. Edition for Dec. 16. A long-awaited government report on jobs adds to questions about the economy’s strength. Watch the WSJ Q&A for more takeaways on the labor market. Plus, Heard on the Street columnist Jonathan Weil discusses how efforts to make it easier for small companies to go public in the U.S. have helped fuel a wave of scams. And in Europe, officials are reversing course on a ban on new sales of gasoline-powered cars. WSJ reporter Kim Mackrael tells us why the EU is watering down its rules as the transition to electric vehicles proves more difficult than policymakers anticipated. Sabrina Siddiqui hosts.


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