Edited by Peter Hillerberg2 min readStories are generated from ORTEX data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. How we publish
US nonfarm payrolls reached 159,044 thousand in September, the largest September reading on record since 1997, according to the ORTEX US Jobs and CPI dataset. Average hourly earnings hit $37.81, also an all-time September high in the series going back to 2006, up from $36.70 a year earlier. The labour market, by these measures, has rarely looked stronger.
The consumer, however, is not rushing to a dealership. New York new passenger car registrations fell to 16,749 in September, the smallest September on record since 2024, per the ORTEX US Vehicles dataset. That is a 46% drop on the same month a year earlier. The gap between a robust payroll count and collapsing auto registrations in the country's largest state is one of the sharper divergences the real-economy data has thrown up this quarter.
The trucking industry tells a similar story of easing stress. Inactive US carrier registrations added in September fell 76% year-on-year to 279, down from 1,180 in September 2025, according to the ORTEX US Trucking dataset. Fewer carriers going inactive points to less churn in freight capacity.
Away from the payroll beat, the ORTEX Medicare dataset shows Advantage penetration has risen for six consecutive months, reaching 51.1% in June 2026. Enrolment of 36.1 million beneficiaries is the largest June figure on record since 2013. The trend has been consistent and broad.
In Europe, Norway's zero-emission car registrations rose 34% year-on-year in September to 18,456 vehicles, per the ORTEX Europe Car Totals dataset. The contrast with New York's registration collapse is pronounced.
LKFN, Lakeland Financial Corporation, saw Wikipedia views spike to 10.0 standard deviations above its own history in the week ending 27 September, per the ORTEX Wikipedia Views dataset. Retail attention at that level is unusual for a mid-size regional bank. Short interest in Lakeland Financial sits at 10.3% of free float, per ORTEX data as of 2 October. The Wikipedia signal is a reading on where retail interest stands, not a projection of any upcoming print.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
