# Indeed Hiring Lab reports on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision during a shutdown [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/indeed-hiring-lab-reports-on-the-federal-reserve-s-rate-d0f565ea) Indeed Hiring Lab’s Laura Ullrich published this reaction on October 29, 2025. Ullrich reports that the Federal Open Market Committee cut its federal funds target for a second meeting in a row, while the government shutdown left policymakers without recent federal jobs data. She argues that the decision came amid a softening labor market and inflation above the Federal Reserve’s target, leaving less-than-ideal clarity about economic conditions. As an indicator available during the shutdown, Ullrich cites Indeed’s Job Postings Index. She reports that it fell between August 12 and October 12, and that its decline accelerated compared with the prior two months. This private-sector measure offered insight into hiring activity, but the source does not establish that it can replace federal employment data. Ullrich says the Federal Reserve will have to balance stable prices and maximum employment, and that whether interest rates are cut again in the near term is uncertain. She says the decision will depend on whether labor-market weakness or higher inflation dominates policymakers’ choices. The source does not say which concern will prevail. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Oct 29, 2025 (2025-10-29). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-11T15:43:23.469Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T21:18:17.358Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T21:55:57.839Z. - [October 2025 FOMC Reaction: Policymaking in the Midst of a Shutdown](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published October 29, 2025. Ullrich presents the Job Postings Index as private-sector insight into labor-market conditions; the source does not establish that it replaces federal employment data. ## Open question How much weight will policymakers place on private-sector measures such as Indeed’s Job Postings Index when recent federal employment data is unavailable? ## Source-stated Laura Ullrich reports that the Federal Open Market Committee lowered its federal funds target for a second consecutive meeting. > For the second meeting in a row, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to lower the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich reports that the target range after the cut was 3.75% to 4.0%. > to a range between 3.75% and 4.0%. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich reports a decline in Indeed’s Job Postings Index over the stated period and says the decline accelerated compared with the prior two months. > the Indeed Job Postings Index declined by 3.5 percent, a notable acceleration from the 0.09 percent decline observed over the prior two months. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich says the Federal Reserve’s decision-making took place without recent federal data and amid uncertainty about labor-market conditions and inflation. > That alone made this FOMC meeting especially unique. Add to that the uncertainty of an at-best stagnant labor market and continued upward pressure on inflation - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich says it is uncertain whether interest rates will be cut again in the near term, with the decision depending on labor-market weakness or higher inflation. > It is uncertain if interest rates will be cut again in the near term, with much riding on whether the weakness of the labor market or higher inflation rates dominate decision-making in the coming months. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated The source dates the reaction to October 29, 2025. > By Laura Ullrich > October 29, 2025 - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: a5807faf-3a8b-597d-fe05-0ec41695caca. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-11T15:38:49.512Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: a3494512ae41738a1259e9258d6840a2ea64ec21da75200d1655f318b67a8f3f. Source text hash: f0fc1b0f3b15c3a6a61223f695a7f01c3477c8c0d02392b8d68472355001be70. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-11T15:43:23.469Z Indeed Hiring Lab’s Laura Ullrich published this reaction on October 29, 2025. Ullrich reports that the Federal Open Market Committee cut its federal funds target for a second meeting in a row, while the government shutdown left policymakers without recent federal jobs data. She argues that the decision came amid a softening labor market and inflation above the Federal Reserve’s target, leaving less-than-ideal clarity about economic conditions. As an indicator available during the shutdown, Ullrich cites Indeed’s Job Postings Index. She reports that it fell between August 12 and October 12, and that its decline accelerated compared with the prior two months. This private-sector measure offered insight into hiring activity, but the source does not establish that it can replace federal employment data. Ullrich says the Federal Reserve will have to balance stable prices and maximum employment, and that whether interest rates are cut again in the near term is uncertain. She says the decision will depend on whether labor-market weakness or higher inflation dominates policymakers’ choices. The source does not say which concern will prevail. ## Original source Indeed Hiring Lab · Article Original source date: Oct 29, 2025 (2025-10-29). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s archive: its article address or archive listing. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-11T15:43:23.469Z. First observed: 2026-10-30T21:18:17.358Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-30T21:55:57.839Z. - [October 2025 FOMC Reaction: Policymaking in the Midst of a Shutdown](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 30, 2026; originally published October 29, 2025. Ullrich presents the Job Postings Index as private-sector insight into labor-market conditions; the source does not establish that it replaces federal employment data. ## Open question How much weight will policymakers place on private-sector measures such as Indeed’s Job Postings Index when recent federal employment data is unavailable? ## Source-stated Laura Ullrich reports that the Federal Open Market Committee lowered its federal funds target for a second consecutive meeting. > For the second meeting in a row, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to lower the federal funds rate by 25 basis points. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich reports that the target range after the cut was 3.75% to 4.0%. > to a range between 3.75% and 4.0%. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich reports a decline in Indeed’s Job Postings Index over the stated period and says the decline accelerated compared with the prior two months. > the Indeed Job Postings Index declined by 3.5 percent, a notable acceleration from the 0.09 percent decline observed over the prior two months. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich says the Federal Reserve’s decision-making took place without recent federal data and amid uncertainty about labor-market conditions and inflation. > That alone made this FOMC meeting especially unique. Add to that the uncertainty of an at-best stagnant labor market and continued upward pressure on inflation - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated Ullrich says it is uncertain whether interest rates will be cut again in the near term, with the decision depending on labor-market weakness or higher inflation. > It is uncertain if interest rates will be cut again in the near term, with much riding on whether the weakness of the labor market or higher inflation rates dominate decision-making in the coming months. - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source-stated The source dates the reaction to October 29, 2025. > By Laura Ullrich > October 29, 2025 - [Supporting source](https://hiringlab.indeed.com/2025/10/29/october-2025-fomc-reaction-policymaking-in-the-midst-of-a-shutdown/) ## Source and contributor context Indeed Hiring Lab · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Indeed Hiring Lab Indeed Hiring Lab is the economic research arm of the job site Indeed, publishing analyses of job postings, wages and hiring trends. - [Explore this context](/entities/indeed-hiring-lab) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/) - [Reference](https://www.hiringlab.org/feed/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: a5807faf-3a8b-597d-fe05-0ec41695caca. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-11T15:38:49.512Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: a3494512ae41738a1259e9258d6840a2ea64ec21da75200d1655f318b67a8f3f. Source text hash: f0fc1b0f3b15c3a6a61223f695a7f01c3477c8c0d02392b8d68472355001be70. ### uncertain — 2026-11-11T15:38:49.512Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: a5807faf-3a8b-597d-fe05-0ec41695caca attribution — pass: This is a single Indeed Hiring Lab article bylined by Laura Ullrich, not a listing. The reading attributes the rate decision, the Job Postings Index figures and the outlook to Ullrich throughout. The later carousel titles are page furniture and are not used. > By Laura Ullrich October 29, 2025 summary — uncertain: The reading tracks the source faithfully, but its central terms are not explained, and the definitions list is empty. It never says that the Federal Open Market Committee is the Federal Reserve's rate-setting body. It also does not explain what the federal funds target is or why cutting it matters. The 25 basis point size and the 3.5 percent decline appear only in the claims. Repair: add brief plain-language glosses or term-library entries, and state the size of the cut and of the decline. Separately, the source makes no mention of AI, so its fit with Escape Meridian rests only on general labor-market context. > voted to cut the federal funds target by 25 basis points for the second meeting in a row, to a range between 3.75% and 4.0%. date — pass: originalPublished (2025-10-29, day precision) matches the byline date, and the reading states it at day precision. The evidence kind is publisher-page, not archive-copy, and the limitations note the later retrieval. The modifiedAt timestamp (2025-10-30) is not flagged as editedAfterPublication. The reading does not use the carousel items or any hindsight framing, and it presents the outlook as Ullrich's uncertainty, not as an outcome. > October 29, 2025 support — pass: The claims are verbatim-supported. The caveat that the index does not replace federal data is properly hedged. The sentence 'This private-sector measure offered insight into hiring activity' is in the reading's voice, and it narrows the source's 'labor market conditions' to hiring activity. Attributing it to Ullrich would tighten it, but it is not a material distortion. The question is a genuine open issue, and it does not claim that the Fed used Indeed data. > some private sector data, including from Indeed, can provide insight into current labor market conditions media — pass: No media was selected, and no verified candidates were supplied, so the null media is appropriate. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/d0f565ea0d94acbcb07641ea3ca24e04cd61aefdf03ad5c043f50a18da824814/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/indeed-hiring-lab-reports-on-the-federal-reserve-s-rate-d0f565ea.json)