Like an old car

horn? Yes, that's what would have happened if this was in the 80s.

Noted.

But even in the 1950s, I think that it is really, really lovely to see this man who is so kind and gentle.

And even though he has these Secret ulterior motives in the beginning.

You know, he's writing a story.

He's not exploiting her in a sexual way.

Oh.

Molly, what did you, what did you think of this, this announcement?

I mean, honestly, I think it sounds awesome to be a community ambassador, to ride the bus and sort of get a, a vibe check of who's riding the bus, how often they're riding it, what lines they're riding.

Like, I think what made me really happy about this is not only that they're utilizing real people in the community and paying them, but also that they're seemingly not using AI to do this.

Like, it seems like the kind of thing that could be really messy, where they just have, you know, they have analysis based on the surveillance that they're doing on the bus or something like that.

And so to me, it feels really refreshing that they're going to have real people with perspectives who can get, literally get eyes on the situation and report back.

So, and honestly, riding the bus without a destination, kind of chic.

Kind of shady.

Oh

Can we begin with the fact that BOJ Governor Ueda has been hospitalized for treatment of a liver cyst infection, and the BOJ has said that Ueda's medical treatment means he will miss this two-day meeting? And I'm curious to get your take on what his absence will do to shift the dynamic of this meeting, if at all.

You know, it's interesting.

I think, um, that the BOJ was maybe doing just, like, a bit of level setting by saying off the bat in what otherwise look a f- was a fairly short statement about this, but to say that he's expected to be in the hospital for two weeks.

So like, you know, not like this is gonna be some swift thing and, like, leave any question as to if he could make the meeting next week.

Very clear that he will not be there, but has a very competent deputy in, um, Himino who will be taking the reins, um, as well as Uchida.

So that I don't think there's any concern in, um, you know, the expertise of those two very experienced central bankers in their own right.

So I don't think it, it doesn't change anything as far as, like, the, you know, the decision.

[laughs]

Is that widely expected? And if we get a rate hike, is it expected to have a meaningful impact on the currency?

So we are right now definitely expecting a hike at the June meeting.

Wouldn't say that that's because of the wage data alone, though that definitely is a supporting factor for it.

And this is something that Ueda has, you know, at the meet- at the BOJ meeting that, uh, policymakers just wrapped up, he was a bit hesitant to send a firmer signal that the June hike is coming.

You know, there were certainly some ways we could read into it.

You saw that the split in the vote, you know, that there were six policymakers who voted with the consensus to hold rates steady, but there were three who dissented in favor of raising interest rates.

And also when the bank laid out its projections, um, for their outlook, a meaningful increase in inflation expectations.

What's the feeling right now? What is the, the view that people have in Japan on this conflict, and what are they having to deal with as a result of higher energy cost?

Definitely.

Yeah.

'Cause you come out, and then that's when you've got all your distractions and everything going on, and people have an opinion, and there was a lot of an opinion around our, like, relationship as well, wasn't there? Um, so I think, yeah, that's when you come out, and then you have all that.

But that's, Tom turned up with his case on day one and just moved straight into my house.

She's like, "I don't wanna go."

I was like, "I don't wanna go.

I don't wanna do this." Like, "This is the worst thing." And then I went, and when they were like, "Oh, pick a few out, see what you like," I was walking around, and my friend looked at me and she went, "Oh, for God's sake, here we go." My mom was like, "This is not gonna be enjoyable, is it?"

When you look back over decades, job creation has often been tied to a growing economy, right? Is the dynamic any different now, given the growth of AI, worries that AI is coming for Americans' jobs? Should these numbers be viewed through a different lens at all?

I mean, obviously we had a great report today, but I think in general, it's absolutely fair to say that, you know, the labor market has absolutely slowed down from, you know, the, those post-pandemic peaks and that we have seen one that has been gradually cooling now for a number of years.

Today's does not change that.

And it's difficult to then reconcile that with what has been really strong GDP numbers, that you see an economy that is expanding at some of the fastest paces in years, yet the labor market has been fairly slow.

The reason why you can look at those things is because the way that GDP is actually calculated has nothing to do with the job market, which is also why it's a difficult way to measure the US economy.

So the economy has been growing as fast as it is in the last few quarters largely because of a reversal in trade policy.

You know that there had been such a huge rush at the beginning of 2025 to import as much as companies could ahead of those expected tariffs that did come, um, in April.

How much weaker, and how do we know?

[instrumental music] Could you just sort of help us understand how these economic data are used across the, the economy broadly?

Yeah.

So the big one, obviously, for people who listen to Bloomberg [chuckles] is going to be whatever the Federal Reserve has to say.

So everyone's really wondering then if this shutdown does last into those latter stages that we have a Federal Reserve meeting at the end of this month.

Will they have the latest jobs report by then? Will they have the latest CPI by then? Will they have everything else that the BLS puts out, that the agencies within the Commerce Department, like the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts out? We just don't know yet.

But it affects everyday Americans, too.

You know, economic data is-- maybe it's not something that regular people are using day to day, but in certain industries, in business planning, in really all levels of government, in all levels of decision and investment making, this is so crucial.

When Fed policymakers gather in Washington at the end of the month, they're gonna review all the economic data they have, and I asked Molly what they'll rely on if they don't have a new jobs report or a new CPI report.