Russell Vought, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, announced on Friday that the Trump administration has commenced the layoff of federal employees.

Trump and Vought have repeatedly mentioned using the government shutdown as an opportunity to fire thousands of federal employees. When announcing the layoffs, Vought said, "RIFs have begun." "Reduction in Force" (RIFs) is the latest blow to federal employees, as the number of federal employees has already decreased by 200,000 this year. A government official recently stated that an additional 100,000 are expected to leave by the end of the year.

A growing number of traders believe that the U.S. government shutdown will last until the end of October or longer. According to probabilities on the Polymarket platform, the likelihood of the U.S. government shutdown lasting more than 30 days is currently 37%, up from 15% when the shutdown began on October 1. Another prediction platform, Kalshi, shows a 39% probability that the government shutdown will last more than 30 days, with traders on that platform on average expecting this shutdown to last 24.7 days.

Regarding the Federal Reserve, Fed official Musalem stated that to guard against weakness in the labor market, he is open to further interest rate cuts, viewing them as an additional insurance measure. Inflation is currently significantly above target. If inflation expectations become unanchored, it will be more difficult to respond to short-term labor market fluctuations. Long-term inflation expectations remain stable.

Fed Governor Waller stated that the job market may have turned negative in the past few months, and the labor market is very weak, which is the key point of policy. He hopes to continue cutting rates but emphasized that policymakers should remain cautious.

Waller was appointed as a Fed Governor by President Trump in 2020 and is currently a top candidate to succeed Powell as Fed Chair. Powell's term will expire in May next year.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that it will release the September 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 8:30 AM Eastern Time on Friday, October 24 (20:30 Beijing Time). Other news releases will not be rescheduled or produced until normal government services resume. The release of the data will enable the Social Security Administration to ensure accurate and timely benefit payments within the statutory deadline.