The United States Federal Reserve (US Fed), in its November 2025 Beige Book, said that several companies in America are adjusting to accommodate their business volumes instead of cutting the number of employees in their organisation through mass layoffs amid a weak labour market.

The US central bank said that several employers in the United States have adjusted their working hours to accommodate the expected business volumes instead of cutting the number of employees.

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However, the US Fed also highlighted that the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workforce has replaced several entry-level job roles while making the existing workers more productive, in turn reducing the new hiring in the US economy.

“Several employers adjusted hours worked to accommodate higher or lower than expected business volume instead of adjusting the number of employees. A few firms noted that artificial intelligence replaced entry-level positions or made existing workers productive enough to curb new hiring,” said the US Fed in its November 2025 Beige Book release.

Is US under a hiring freeze?

The US Fed also emphasised how employment in the US economy has declined marginally over the current period, with nearly half of the districts marking weak labour market demand.

Fed explained that even though there is a rise in the layoff announcements in recent times, the districts are reporting companies limiting their employee headcount using hiring freeze, replacement-only hiring, and attrition, compared to using mass layoffs.

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“Employment declined slightly over the current period with around half of Districts noting weaker labor demand. Despite an uptick in layoff announcements, more Districts reported contacts limiting headcounts using hiring freezes, replacement-only hiring, and attrition than through layoffs.

Mint reported earlier that the delayed Bureau of Labor Statistics data for September 2025 showed that the unemployment rates in the US economy rose to hit 4.4% while the country added 119,000 jobs amid a government shutdown in the set period.

The latest round of jobs data for October 2025 will be released on 16 December 2025 as part of a full report covering the November data.

When is the next US Fed policy meeting?

The US Fed released its Beige Book for November on 26 November 2025. This comes ahead of the US Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which is set to be held on 9-10 December 2025 to determine the key benchmark interest rates for the US economy.

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In the last US Fed policy meeting, the Jerome Powell-led FOMC committee’s decision was to cut the key benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to the range of 3.75% to 4.00%, according to the official release on 29 October 2025.

On the backdrop of US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell‘s hawkish comments on an upcoming rate cut, the FOMC committee said that it plans to keep evaluating incoming economic data to gauge the economic outlook and the interest rate trajectory of the US economy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish comment on the US key interest rates was that a further reduction in the benchmark interest rates is not a foregone conclusion, but far from it.

“A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion, far from it,” said Powell at the press conference after the October 2025 policy meeting.

All eyes of the global investors are now on Jerome Powell and the Fed’s FOMC committee for the outcome of the December 2025 meeting, which will indicate the future outlook for the US interest rates and the economy.

Key Takeaways

  • US Fed’s Beige Book said that several companies are adjusting to accommodate their business volumes instead of cutting the number of employees.
  • US Fed also emphasised how employment in the US economy has declined marginally, with nearly half of the districts marking weak labour market demand.
  • All eyes of the global investors are now on the Jerome Powell-led FOMC committee for the outcome of the December 2025 meeting.