Apple is the only giant tech company that has not announced layoffs

North American stock markets dropped for the third day as listed companies are rolling out their annual financial reports showing that many of the revenue and earnings numbers continue to disappoint investors. S&P 500 and Nasdaq have advanced 1.55% and 2.69% year to date and Canada’s S&P/TSX has added 4.93%.

The US and Canadian companies are starting to see the effect of higher rates and lower demand in their earnings. So far 10% of the US companies have reported their fourth-quarter results and signs of a slowing US economy are clear.

Previously, different US companies announced their plans to reduce their workforce from Amazon to Microsoft and salesforce. Microsoft announced that they plan to lay off 10,000 employees to prepare for the slowing economy and possible recession. The round of layoffs always hit the tech companies first as they face major growth issues at the onset of recession risk. Apple Inc. is the only giant tech company that has not announced any plans to lay off employees.

Central banks plan to slow the economy and hence the inflation rate is working, and they seem to be willing to curb the inflation at the expense of putting the US economy in recession. The Federal Reserve’s officials have continued reiterating that their hawkish plans have not yet ended, and interest rates may see higher levels.

The markets however are betting the US central banks is very close to the end of the rate hike cycle and with the other central banks catching up, the US dollar is giving up its record-high gains against other currencies like Euro.