#unemployment

#unemployment

"It has nailed every recession since WWII without falsely predicting a downturn. If it is triggered, it may take a while for the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research to confirm it, but we are already in a recession."

"Even before the conflict, I thought recession and risks were on the rise. Recession risks are very high—and unless the hostilities are coming to an end now, I think recession is more than likely by the second half of the year."

The job market is struggling in the face of so many headwinds. Companies are going to be even more reluctant to hire this spring until the war ends and they can see consumers still spending. It's a tense time for the U.S. economy.

U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, a third the previously reported 584,000 and the weakest since the pandemic year of 2020. The job market has been sluggish for months even though the economy is registering solid growth.

The forecasts from the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon) show crime rates and unemployment will rise until the next election in England's 613 most deprived neighbourhoods, despite the government's promises to invest in local communities. The report's authors warn the extra money ministers have pumped in is not enough to counteract longer-term trends such as the increase in antisocial behaviour and the problems facing the retail and hospitality sectors.

Under existing rules, savers can draw on their private pension from age 55, 11 years before the state pension age, which is due to rise from 66 to 67 this year. Up to a quarter of a private pension, capped at £268,275, can be taken tax-free from that point. In a new intervention, the think tank said ministers should consider limiting access to private pension wealth before state pension age, either by raising the minimum access age or by reducing the amount that can be withdrawn tax-free.

Her complaint is that Republicans blocked legislative efforts to raise California's minimum wage, implying that if Republicans really cared about workers, they would support a higher minimum wage. She lists a group of U.S. states that have no state minimum wage law and thus "take advantage" of low-wage workers. Her question to the chairman: "What do the states on that list have in common?" The states are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

The December jobs report confirms that 2025 was a blockbuster year of solid job growth thanks to the return President Trump's America First leadership,

Now I have no work, I can't provide for my family, he told Al Jazeera, adding that he used to work in the infrastructure and farming sectors. I used to work with an axe to open water channels between the trees, plough the soil around them, spray pesticides, and plant tomatoes and cucumbers. I used to work from 7am to 4pm for 4050 shekels [$13-$15] per day.

The GDP number arrived just before Christmas, wrapped like good news. The U.S. economy grew at a 4.3% annual rate in the third quarter, blowing past economists' expectations and delivering the kind of headline that signals strength heading into the new year. Consumers went on an unusually strong spending tear while corporations cinched $166 billion in capital gains. President Donald Trump and his team wasted no time celebrating, taking a victory lap

While this seems like a generous COLA on the surface, the reality is that Cost of Living Adjustments have not done their job in making sure that benefits keep pace with inflation, and the value of benefits has been falling over time. Sadly, the decline has been substantial, with the Senior Citizens League reporting that benefits today are worth around $0.80 on the dollar compared to their buying power in 2010.