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When the Labor Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged President Donald Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.Nothing quite so dramatic is likely Friday when the department releases hiring and unemployment numbers for August. They are expected to show that companies, government agencies and nonprofits added a modest 80,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.That would be a slight improvement on July’s 73,000 but still offer more evidence that the American job market has cooled significantly from last year.The unemployment rate is forecast to stay at a low 4.2% suggesting that employers are stuck in a no-hire, no-fire mode: They are reluctant to add many new workers but don’t want to give up the ones they have. But there are signs they may be starting to cut staff.The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because President Donald Trump’s policies, including his trade wars, have created uncertainty that leaves managers reluctant to make hiring decisions.So far in 2025, the economy has generated 85,000 new jobs a month, down from 168,000 last year and an average 400,000 a month during the hiring boom of 2021-2023 as the United States roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.“The labor market is showing signs of cracking,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “It’s not a red siren alarm yet, but the signs keep growing that businesses are starting to cut workers.”The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits a proxy for layoffs rose last week to the highest level since June, though the number of claims remained within a healthy range.The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Wednesday that U.S.-based employers have announced more than 892,000 jobs cuts this year through August, more than the 761,000 reported for all 12 months of 2024.In a sign that U.S. hiring gains are limited and fragile, nearly 80% of new private sectors jobs this year have been created in just one industry: healthcare and social assistance, a Labor Department category that spans hospitals to daycare centers.After seeing the weak July jobs numbers, Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, baselessly claiming the hiring report had been rigged to hurt him politically.He has nominated a partisan idealogue, E.J. Antoni, to replace her. But for now, pending Antoni’s confirmation by the Senate, the jobs report is in the hands of the acting BLS commissioner, William Wiatrowski, a career Labor Department official.Economists and others familiar with how the jobs numbers are collected have expressed confidence that Labor Department procedures will keep the data are safe from political interference.What set Trump off a month ago wasn’t the July hiring or unemployment figures. It was BLS revisions, which shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls and slashed average monthly hiring from May through July to a mere 35,000.The revisions are standard practice, and necessary because many companies surveyed by the government submit their responses late or correct what they’ve already sent in.Government economists are also contending with a big drop in the share of companies that respond to the surveys. A decade ago, about 60% of companies surveyed responded. Now only about 40% do.And it’s an international problem for data collectors, especially since COVID-19. The United Kingdom even suspended publication of an official unemployment rate because of inadequate responses.“I remember being at an international conference where the chief statistician of the Russian Republic was complaining about how the Russians don’t want to complete their surveys,” William Beach, BLS commissioner from 2019 to 2023, said in an interview last month. “What could he do? If you can’t compel completion in Russia, you can’t compel it anywhere.” Paul Wiseman, AP Economics Writer
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E-Commerce
New data suggests that high-paying remote positions are almost as rare as they were before the pandemic. According to a recent analysis of over one million job postings between January and July from Ladders, a career platform for six-figure salary jobs, those offering salaries of $100,000 or more and that also offer remote or hybrid work plunged 15% in the second quarter of 2025. Only about 6% of high-paying jobs now provide location flexibilitydown from a high of 41% in 2022, and just a couple points above the 4% recorded back in pre-pandemic 2019. By comparison, roughly 20% of jobs advertised on LinkedIn offer hybrid or remote work options. According to Indeed, fully remote positions advertised on its platform jumped from 2.4% of all postings in 2019 to 10.2% in 2022, but have since declined to about 7.9%. Its definitely an employers market, says Ladders founder Marc Cenedella. In 2025, by and large, U.S. and Canadian companies have decided [workers earning six figures or more] are going back to the office. Cenedella adds that while six-figure jobs once represented a small slice of the workforce, the data now applies to a larger proportion of knowledge economy workers, thanks in part to inflation and the growth of the knowledge industry. When we started the business 20 years ago it would have been the top 25% of the workforce, he says. Now probably the top 50% of professional workforces is at that level. The Ladders data suggests that as the labor market tightens, employers are increasingly demanding more in-person work, especially among top earners. Where did all the high-paying flexible jobs go? This trend is an abrupt 180 from even a few years ago. Cenedella explains that employers were amazed in 2021 that they could be just as profitable as they were in the past without having to have all this real estate and overhead. But just a year later, many employers started trying to pull staff back into the office, regardless of how much they make. Today, a more challenging economy and a tighter labor market is giving them the opportunity to enforce their preferred location policies. As time went on, those good habits kind of deteriorated. A new generation hasn’t been taught those good habits, Cenedella says. Cenedella reasons that if organizations could successfully operate remotely, most would opt to do so, as it offers some short-term savings on real estate and overhead. In fact, a recent study conducted by professors at Harvard University, Brown University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, found that workers would accept a significantly lower salaryup to 25% lessin exchange for the opportunity to work remotely or hybrid. But instead of saving on salaries by permitting remote work, the researchers found employers tend to do the opposite: If firms don’t have to pay as much to attract people for remote positions, we might expect the salaries to be lower for remote work rather than in-person workand we don’t find that, says Bobak Pakzad-Hurson, an assistant professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship at Brown University, and one of the studys coauthors. In fact, remote workers make a tiny bit more. Despite workers willingness to sacrifice some of their salary for the opportunity to have more flexibility, the Ladders data suggests employers are unwilling to make that trade. Are high-paying remote jobs ever coming back? Still, Pakzad-Hurson doesnt believe high-paying remote and hybrid work opportunities will remain at such low levels for long. Things in the short-run are tied to political and economic factors, but I dont think the prevalence of work-from-home is going to go away, in part because of technological progress, he says. Much of the hesitation to hire across the board, but especially top earners, is the result of numerous seismic changes hitting the economy and the labor market all at once. Thats causing employers to hold off until they get more clarity on the long-term effects, says career expert Jasmine Escalera of resume writing resource MyPerfectResume. There are way too many factors that are completely changing corporate America, she says, from economics to politics to AI. Amid all these changes Escalera says employers are more hesitant to hireas reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics dataand may feel more emboldened to impose their preference for in-person work on a labor force with more limited options, especially for staff that command a premium salary. With the current labor market conditions, those who are keen on finding a role with both location flexibility and a high salary may need to adjust their expectations, and their timeline. Escalera says the Ladders survey further demonstrates how employers feel theyre in a position to call the shots, and while many are hesitant to cut back on salary, they appear more than willing to cut back on flexibility perks. They feel as though if I give you a higher paying salary, I get to make demands, she says. Companies have way more of an upper hand, and they’re basically dictating how things are going to flow, and workers just have to roll with it. Whatever the reason, employers appear to have settled on a preference for in-person work, and Cenedella of Ladders doesnt believe flexibility will ever return to anything near that 2022 peak. Should it go back to being a hot marketand it will by 2027 or 2028will those numbers go up 1 or 2%? Absolutely, he says. But I cant see a world where we go from 6% remote work to 20%.
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E-Commerce
No one has ever called LeBron James underrated. But the NBA star wasnt always on top, particularly outside of basketball. He’s been questioned and critiqued for his pursuits in philanthropy, education, business, and entertainment. Thats part of why he founded the media brand Uninterrupted, with the tagline More Than an Athlete, answering critics who told him to shut up and dribble whenever his opinions ventured beyond the court. That idea of being overlooked is the crux of a new campaign and web series for employment brand Indeed called The Main Thing, set to launch October 1. Created by Uninterrupted, the four-part series features James interviewing skateboarding icon and entrepreneur Tony Hawk, R&B artist Teyana Taylor, tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, and fashion designer Melody Ehsani. The focus of the show is how skills forged through lived experience, creativity, and hard work can open doors across industries. Uninterrupted has dropped a new ad, narrated by sportscaster Ernie Johnson Jr., using LeBrons own work history as a jumping-off point. Maverick Carter, CEO of Uninterrupted and co-CEO of its parent company, Fulwell Entertainment, says that Indeed wanted to create something entertaining that challenges traditional job hiring practices. Their focus on championing opportunities for all and their skills-first approach to help people get jobs hit home for us, Carter says. Weve always believed in platforms that unlock access and create space for people whove been overlooked. [Photo: Indeed] Skills to pay the bills Brand content is also a way for Uninterrupted to boost its bottom line. Over the years the company has produced content for major brands such as JPMorgan Chase, Nike, and Google, and commercial work remains a key cog in its business. James’s SpringHill Co., which produces TV shows, films, podcasts, and more, reportedly lost $28 million on sales of $104 million last year, according to Bloomberg News. In February, it completed a merger with Fulwell 73 to create Fulwell Entertainment, with work now spanning branded content and commercials, unscripted content, documentaries, scripted TV and film, and live events. James Whitmore, Indeeds chief marketing officer, says the goal is to create content that reflects the brands focus on hiring for skills rather than just titles or backgrounds: Were telling stories that highlight what people can do, not just what theyve done, and in doing so reinforce what Indeed has always stood for: helping people get jobs by connecting them with opportunity. The internet is awash in brand content, but Indeed has made a strategic bet that launching a series with LeBron James just as he begins his 23rd NBA season, combined with a varied guest list boasting their own fan bases, will draw an audience. Carter says the key to making The Main Thing, or any brand content, worth watching is to treat it like any other piece of entertainment. Its not about slapping a logo on content, he says. Its about co-creating platforms that drive impact, shift culture, and tell important stories.
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