The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index cratered 9.7 points to 84.5 in January, falling below even the lowest readings during the COVID-19 pandemic. A measure of Americans' short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market tumbled 9.5 points to 65.1, well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead. It's the 12th consecutive month that reading has come in under 80. Consumers' assessments of their current economic situation slid by 9.9 points to 113.7.
Donald Trump became president for the second time on this day in 2025. With that came a lot of new economicplans for trade, immigration, and the federal workforce. Elizabeth Renter, a senior economist at NerdWallet, said uncertainty from actual or potential policy changes affected consumers, job seekers, and small to midsize businesses. "There was a lot of guesswork happening in 2025, and then you add to that mix issues with economic statistics, and sort of reading the tea leaves to figure out where the economy is headed amidst all this change became increasingly difficult," Renter said.
"Does AI mean that you should hire senior people or middle-level, or junior, or are all the jobs going to go away because AI will replace them all?" Field asked. "I've heard that last one a bunch of times, and it hasn't come true yet. All the people have said that. They continue to hire."
Located about 25 miles northeast of Atlanta, this small city of 79,000 is ideal for young professionals and families searching for a place with access to the outdoors, cultural activities, and relatively easy access to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). With Johns Creek as your base camp, you can spend your weekends walking the trails at the 46-acre Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center, paddling the Chattahoochee River, attending performances by the Johns Creek Symphony Orchestra, and sampling craft beer at Six Bridges Brewing.
Europe often tops the list for expats seeking vibrant cultures, rich history, and scenic landscapes. But not every European city or country lives up to the idyllic image found in travel brochures. While many places offer incredible quality of life, others fall short due to high living costs, limited job opportunities, safety concerns, or overcrowding. Sometimes, what seems like a dream destination turns out to be a logistical or financial nightmare once you settle in.
I got laid off five months ago. Every morning I drink a pot of coffee while I write cover letters, tweak my résumé, and submit job applications into the abyss, knowing they will likely never be seen by human eyes-only crawled by the cold, lifeless algorithms of an artificial intelligence. I feel like General Zod from Superman, floating off into space trapped inside a two-dimensional phantom zone, screaming in silence about my job qualifications and core competencies.
Dionne Foster, 52, built a steady career as a business analyst contractor before losing her job in April 2024. A year later, she found herself taking on an eight-week summer internship at an IT company, where she made $20 an hour and worked alongside a high schooler. 'I haven't made $20 an hour since I was in college,' Foster said. Foster accepted the internship offer after roughly a year on the job market, where she cast a wide net of applications for both full-time and contract opportunities.
That dream might be creeping out of reach for younger people trying to break into the industry, which looks to be on the cusp of a big shift as firms trim their ranks, double down on AI, and tighten performance standards across the career ladder, industry analysts told Business Insider. No one is exactly sure how it will play out, as much of the future will depend on where the economy goes and how quickly AI is adopted.
Google's parent company was one of the strongest forces lifting the market and climbed 8.7% after avoiding some of the worst-case scenarios in its antitrust case. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shake-up of Google's search engine but did not force a sale of its Chrome browser. Because Alphabet is one of Wall Street's most valuable companies, its stock movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than the typical company's.
In today's digital landscape, there's a sharper focus on the best iPhones for photography, how to make the highest quality social media videos, and the best ways to use ChatGPT for generative AI.
The official US labor force, which measures the number of working-age Americans actively working or looking for work, is shrinking at a rate normally seen during the depths of economic crises.
