From an article at the week.com below. It's a K-shaped economy. If you're in an AI-related field, or if you're heavily invested in stocks, life is good. For others, not so much. Doesn't bode well for the R's keeping Congress in November.
"The demand for new hires "continues to wane," said CNN. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that there were just 6.54 million job openings in December, the "lowest level since September 2020." That leaves "slim pickings" for U.S. workers looking to find a new job, said NerdWallet's Elizabeth Renter, per the network. And economists are cautious about how tariffs, immigration policy and artificial intelligence will affect the job market going forward. "The hiring recession isn't going to end anytime soon," said Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, in a commentary.
The pandemic is not the only point of comparison. Layoffs in January were the highest since the 2009 financial crisis plunged the U.S. economy into the "steepest downturn since the Great Depression," said CNBC. American companies announced more than 108,000 layoffs for the month, more than double from a year ago. That signals that employers are "less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026," said workplace expert Andy Challenger in an analysis. Workers are feeling negative, too. Consumer confidence is at its "lowest level since 2014," said The Associated Press."
