Look at Layoffs 19: Jay Powell is a guy, so 600 people will stop talking to Chuck

Have you heard all this debate about whether or not we are in a recession? Well, if you're in the camp thinking that everything is fine, you probably should not talk to Chuck ™ now:

Charles Schwab fired 600 workers because of the slowdown in the economy and pressure from falling interest rates, the company said.

These cuts represent about 3% of the bank's workforce and affect all sectors in an effort to rationalize expenses, as net interest income is under pressure.

And the cuts at Schwab will be very … democratic:

"This spring, we launched a process to review our expense base to ensure we remain well positioned to serve our customers while navigating in an increasingly challenging economic environment," the company said in a statement. "As part of this process, we decided to eliminate about 600 positions within the company. The impacted positions cover all categories of staff, as well as organizations and business sites. "

It's like seeing a WASPy canary lying in the mouth of a coal mine:

Net interest income is an important source of revenue for Schwab, whose shares significantly underperformed the market this year. The stock rose only 1.2% in 2019, compared with 16.5% for the SPDR S & P Bank ETF.

Other major banks are also under pressure. Officials from Citigroup and Wells Fargo said this week at a sectoral conference that they expect a drop in interest income, citing slower growth and cuts. from the Fed.