President-Elect Donald Trump is contemplating calling a national economic emergency to implement his wide-reaching tariff policies, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

A declaration of this nature will give Trump power to create the tariff program he made a pinnacle of his campaign for the White House through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, CNN reported. Also known as IEEPA, the act allows the president to oversee imports in a period of national crisis.

Stock futures weakened following the CNN report and the U.S. dollar gained in value against most other currencies.

CNN’s sources noted that a final decision has not been reached on whether Trump will declare a national emergency. Trump’s team is also evaluating alternative legal arguments, such as pointing to specific sections of the U.S. trade law, per CNN’s reporting.

Trump pitched taxes on imports frequently on the campaign trail, calling at times for fees of 60% or more on Chinese products. Weeks after his victory, the Republican vowed to hike tariffs on Chinese imports by 10% and slap 25% fees on products coming from Canada or Mexico.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump would narrow the focus of his tariffs, an approach Wall Street seems to favor. But the President-Elect later denied that report.

Read CNN’s full story here.

Private sector job creation eased more than expected in December while wages grew at the slowest pace in nearly three-and-a-half years, payment processing firm ADP reported Wednesday.

Companies added a seasonally adjusted 122,000 jobs for the month, down from 146,000 additions in November and less than the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 136,000. It was the smallest increase since August.

On wages, pay grew at a 4.6% rate from a year ago, the slowest pace since July 2021.

“The labor market downshifted to a more modest pace of growth in the final month of 2024, with a slowdown in both hiring and pay gains,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said.

Though there are signs hiring is slowing, there have been few indications to indicate that layoffs are increasing.

The Labor Department on Wednesday reported that initial claims for unemployment insurance totaled just 201,000 for the week ending Jan. 4. That was well below the 215,000 estimate and the lowest level since February 2024.

The reports come two days ahead of the closely watched nonfarm payrolls count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that report to show a gain of 155,000, which in itself would mark a sharp slowdown from November’s unexpectedly strong 227,000. The ADP and BLS numbers often differ, sometimes by large margins.

Federal Reserve policymakers are watching the jobs numbers closely as they plot their next moves for monetary policy. While most Fed officials have said they believe the labor market is solid, they are looking to keep interest rates less restrictive so as not to threaten job creation.

They also have expressed more confidence that inflation has stabilized though it is still above the Fed’s 2% target. The ADP numbers could add to the case that wages aren’t pressuring inflation.

From a sector standpoint, job creation was strongest in the education and health services category, which added 57,000 positions. Other significant gains came in construction (27,000), leisure and hospitality (22,000) and financial activities (12,000).

Several sectors reported job losses, including manufacturing (-11,000), natural resources and mining (-6,000) and professional and business services (-5,000).

Almost all of the jobs came from big companies with more than 500 workers, which amounted to 97,000.