Squawk Pod January’s Jobs Picture & AI Disruption 2/11/26
Feb 11, 2026
Steve Liesman, CNBC economics reporter, and Rick Santelli, longtime market commentator, break down January’s jobs data and big revisions. They discuss how payrolls, Fed policy signals, political reactions, and AI’s encroachment on financial services could reshape markets. Short, sharp takes on labor trends, Ford’s earnings miss, and what comes next for rates and wealth firms.
AI Snips
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Episode notes
AI Market Moves Often Overreactive
- Markets have repeatedly priced AI as a wildfire spreading across sectors, causing sharp overreactions.
- Panelists view initial steep stock drops in wealth and insurance as likely overreactions that later settle.
Adopt AI Or Lose Fee-Sensitive Clients
- Wealth managers should adopt AI to lower costs and remain competitive against lower-fee rivals.
- Kelly Evans warns firms that early AI adopters with lower fees will win clients and accelerate consolidation.
AI Cuts Routine Work, Not High-Touch Advice
- AI will displace routine, high-fee work (like tax form processing) but not eliminate high-touch advisory roles.
- Robert Frank says human judgment remains valuable for high-net-worth clients and crises.