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Sluggish December hiring concluded a year of weak employment gains that have frustrated job seekers even though layoffs and unemployment remained low. Employers added just 50,000 jobs last month, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.4%, its first decline since June, from 4.5% in November, a figure also revised lower. The data suggests a reluctance by businesses to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trumps shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs. Still, economists were encouraged by the lower unemployment rate, which had risen in the previous four straight reports. Weakening employment raised alarms at the Federal Reserve, which cut its key interest rate three times last year. The labor market looks to have stabilized, but at a slower pace of employment growth, Blerina Uruci, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, said. “There is no urgency for the Fed to cut rates further, for now.” Some Federal Reserve officials are concerned that inflation hasn’t improved since 2024 and remains above their target of 2% annual growth. They support keeping rates where they are to combat inflation. Others, however, have grown worried that hiring has nearly ground to a halt and have supported lowering borrowing costs to spur spending and growth. November’s job gain was revised slightly lower, from 64,000 to 56,000, while October’s now shows a much steeper drop, with a loss of 173,000 positions, down from previous estimates of a 105,000 decline. The government revises the jobs figures as it receives more survey responses from businesses. Nearly all the jobs added in December were in the health care and restaurant and hotel industries. Health care added 38,500 jobs, while restaurants and hotels gained 47,000. Governments mostly at the state and local level added 13,000. Manufacturing, construction and retail companies all shed jobs. Retailers cut 25,000 positions, a sign that holiday hiring has been weaker than previous years. Manufacturers have shed jobs every month since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs intended to boost manufacturing. Wall Street and Washington are looking closely at Friday’s report as it’s the first clean reading on the labor market in three months. The government didnt issue a report in October because of the six-week government shutdown, and Novembers data was distorted by the closure, which lasted until Nov. 12. Job gains have been subdued all year, particularly after Aprils liberation day tariff announcement by Trump. The economy gained just 584,000 jobs in 2025, sharply lower than that more than 2 million added in 2024. Its the smallest annual gain since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the job market in 2020. Outside of recessions, it’s the smallest annual increase since 2003. Still, Trump boasted on social media late Thursday that since January, all the new jobs have been in the private sector, while government jobs have declined. Yet his figures included December’s jobs numbers as well as revisions to previous months, which the White House receives Thursday afternoon, before the figures are publicly released. Trump’s post on Truth Social said that 654,000 jobs were added by businesses since January, while government jobs declined 181,000, so it wouldn’t have been immediately clear that the post had new information from December. But new jobs data are generally closely guarded since they can move financial markets. The hiring slowdown reflects more than just a reluctance by companies to add jobs. With an aging population and a sharp drop in immigration, the economy doesn’t need to create as many jobs as it has in the past to keep the unemployment rate steady. As a result, a gain of 50,000 jobs is not as clear a sign of weakness as it would have been in previous years. And layoffs are still low, a sign firms aren’t rapidly cutting jobs, as typically happens in a recession. The low-hire, low-fire job market does mean workers have some job security, though it’s become harder to find new work. Ernesto Castro, 44, has applied for hundreds of jobs since leaving his last in May. Yet the Los Angeles resident has had just three initial interviews, and only one follow-up, after which he heard nothing. With nearly a decade of experience providing customer support for software companies, Castro expected to find a new job pretty quickly as in the past. Its been awful, he said. He worries that more companies are turning to artificial intelligence to help clients learn to use new software. He hears ads from tech companies that urge companies to slash workers like him in favor of AI. His contacts in the industry say that employees are increasingly reluctant to switch jobs amid all the uncertainty, which means fewer open jobs for others. He is now looking into starting his own software company, and is also exploring project management roles. Subdued hiring underscores a key conundrum surrounding the economy as it enters 2026: Growth has picked up to healthy levels, yet hiring has weakened noticeably. Most economists expect hiring will accelerate this year amid solid growth, and Trump’s tax cut legislation is expected to produce large tax refunds this spring. Yet economists acknowledge there are other possibilities: Weak job gains could drag down future growth. Or the economy could keep expanding at a healthy clip, while automation and the spread of artificial intelligence reduces the need for more jobs.
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U.S. stocks are rising toward records Friday following a mixed report on the U.S. job market, one that may delay another cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve but does not slam the door on it. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% in midday trading and was on track to top its all-time high set earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 237 points, or 0.5% and was also heading toward a record. The Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time. The gains came after the U.S. Labor Department said employers hired fewer workers in total during December than economists expected, though the unemployment rate improved and was better than expected. It reinforced how the U.S. job market may be in a low-hire, low-fire state. On Wall Street, power company Vistra soared 11.9% to lead the market after signing a 20-year deal to provide electricity to Meta Platforms from three of its nuclear plants. Big Tech companies have been signing a string of such deals to electrify the data centers powering their moves into artificial-intelligence technology. Oklo jumped 12.3% after saying it also signed a deal with Meta Platforms that will help it secure nuclear fuel and advance its project to build a facility in Pike County, Ohio. Homebuilders and other companies involved in the housing market were also strong in their first trading after President Donald Trump announced a plan to lower mortgage rates. Trump on late Thursday called for the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage bonds, similar to how the Fed in the past has bought bonds backed by mortgages to bring down mortgage rates. Builders FirstSource, a supplier of building products, jumped 8.5% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after Vistra. Among homebuilders, Lennar rose 5.1%, PulteGroup rose 4.9% and D.R. Horton climbed 4.8%. They helped offset a 3.3% drop for General Motors. The auto giant said it will take a $6 billion hit to its results for the last three months of 2025 related to its pullback from electric vehicles. Thats on top of the $1.6 billion in charges GM took in the prior quarter. Fewer tax incentives and easier fuel-emission regulations have been eating into demand for EVs. WD-40 tumbled 5% after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Sara Hyzer said the soft numbers were primarily because of timing issues, not weaker demand from end customers, and the company stood by its financial forecasts for the upcoming year. In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed following the mixed jobs report. The improvement in the unemployment rate was enough to get traders to ratchet back expectations for a cut to interest rates at the Feds next meeting, which is scheduled for later this month. Traders are now forecasting just a 5% chance of that, down from 11% a day before, according to data from CME Group. But traders nevertheless still largely expect the Fed to cut rates at least twice this upcoming year. Whether theyre correct carries high stakes for financial markets. Lower interest rates can goose the economy and push up prices for investments, though they can also worsen inflation at the same time. And inflation has stubbornly remained above the Feds 2% target. Until the data provide a clearer direction, a divided Fed is likely to stay that way, according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Lower rates are likely coming this year, but the markets may have to be patient. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.17% from 4.19% late Thursday. It tends to track expectations for longer-term economic growth and inflation. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks forecasts for what the Fed will do with short-term interest rates in the near term, rose to 3.52% from 3.49%. A separate report released Friday morning suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is strengthening, particularly among lower-income households. Perhaps more importantly for the Fed, the preliminary report from the University of Michigan also said expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months may be at their lowest level in a year. That could prevent a vicious cycle where worsening expectations lead to behaviors that accelerate inflation further. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. The French CAC 40 rose 1.3%, and Japans Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% for two of the worlds bigger gains. In Tokyo, Fast Retailing, the fashion company behind Uniqlo, jumped 10.7% after its quarterly operating profit surged about 34% year-on-year. It revised its full-year forecasts upward. By Stan Choe, AP business writer AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
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Some words are far too mild for the violence of what they describe. Migraine is one of them. For many people, it evokes a simple headachean inconvenience solved with an aspirin (or Tylenol) and a glass of water. For those whove never experienced it, migraine is almost a cliché: a lame excuse to stay in bed or avoid a meeting. But for millions of peopleand Im one of themmigraine is anything but benign. It is a debilitating neurological disease that can force life to grind to a halt for days at a time. It is an invisible disability that millions are expected to simply push through. The Mild Version Everyone Seesand the Severe One No One Understands I often compare migraine to carrying a 60-pound bag everywhere you go. On mild days, you still walk, work, answer emailsbut you do it while pushing through a fog of pain that absorbs all your energy. Many migraine sufferers perform normal life while their brain fights a private war. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-169.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-11.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Laetitia@Work\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"Women power the worlds productivity its time we talked more about it. Explore a woman-centered take on work, from hidden discrimination to cultural myths about aging and care. Dont miss the next issue subscribe to Laetitia@Work.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/laetitiaatwork.substack.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91472264,"imageMobileId":91472265,"shareable":false,"slug":""}} Ironically, this functional version of migraine contributes to the disbelief faced by people who cannot work during severe attacks. They hear, But I know someone with migraines and she still workswhy cant you? Because not all migraines are the same. Some are annoying. Some are so ferocious you cant imagine enduring another minute of it. A Neurological Reality That Hijacks the Entire Body When a severe migraine hits, everything stops. I find myself in bed, motionless, in the dark. I shuttle back and forth to the bathroom to vomit. I cant read. I cant watch a show. I cant think clearly. My brain is overwhelmed by pain and sensory overload. The outside world simply disappears. More than one billion people worldwide experience migraines. One in seven adults. And yet . . . it remains an astonishingly misunderstood disease. It disproportionately affects womenroughly 80% of migraine suffererslargely because of hormonal fluctuations that influence the sensitivity of the nervous system. Its driven by an abnormal excitability of brainstem neurons that triggers a cascade: CGRP molecules flood the system, blood vessels dilate, nerves ignite with pain signals, and the body spirals into nausea, hypersensitivity to light and sound, vomiting, word-finding difficulties, and exhaustion. Some people experience visual disturbancesaurabefore the pain even hits. But whether with or without aura, the result can be incapacitating. The Monastic Life Migraine Demands Migraine forces me into a kind of monastic discipline. I dont drink alcohol anymoreits an instant trigger. Ive cut out lactose completely, because even a small amount can set off a crisis. I follow a tightly controlled diet. I guard my sleep like its sacred, because one night thats too short or too long can derail an entire day. I limit screen time as much as I can. I monitor my stress levels (not easy in the world we live in). I avoid harsh light, loud spaces, sensory overload. And even with all that, I still cant fully prevent the attacks. For some, its chronic. A migraine that never really leaves, a pain that becomes the background noise of existence. I honestly cannot imagine living like that. I dont know how people with chronic migraine keep goingtheir resilience is extraordinary. A Workplace Blind Spot With Enormous Costs The gap between lived experience and workplace perception is enormous. Migraine is still not widely recognized as a disabling condition at work. Many employees fear being judged as unreliable or weak. And too many managers still respond with skepticism or impatience. Yet migraine is one of the worlds leading causes of productivity loss. The economic costthrough absenteeism, presenteeism, and cognitive impairmentruns into the hundreds of billions globally each year. And behind those numbers are real people who spend days each month barely able to function. Treatment ExistsBut Access, Awareness, and Understanding Lag Behind Traditional preventive medications (like beta blockers) help some patients, but only a fraction of them. Acute treatments like triptans can workuntil they trigger rebound headaches that are worse than the original pain. Many of us know that spiral all too well. Newer therapies, especially those targeting CGRP, are genuinely promising. Some patients describe them as life-changing. But they remain expensive, inaccessible for many, and often unknown. And because migraine is still not taken seriously, an astonishing number of people never even seek medical help. They just live with it. They sometimes mention it in passingoh, and I get migrainesif they mention it at all. For a condition that can derail entire lives, the gap between the severity of the disease and the lack of treatment is staggering. Despite how common migraine is, very few workplaces have policies that address it. The Question We Avoid: What If Migraine Affected Mostly Men? History gives us a pretty clear answer. Across medicine, conditions that disproportionately affect womenmigraine, endometriosis, autoimmune diseaseshave been minimized, dismissed, or psychologized for decades. When women describe pain, it is more likely to be labeled as stress, anxiety, sensitivity, or overreaction. When men describe pain, it is more likely to be investigated. Migraine sits squarely in this long lineage of medical bias. For generations, it has been seen as a womens complaint, something vaguely emotional rather than neurological. In the mid-20th century, many doctors literally described migraine as a manifestation of female hysteria. The stereotype still lingers today: the fragile woman with “her headaches.” If a condition that disables one in seven adults were perceived as a mens disease, it would almost certainly have received more research funding, more public awareness, more employer adaptations, and far earlier recognition as a legitimate disability. Instead, millions of women have been told for decades to push through it, take something, or manage stress, as if willpower could override a neurological storm. What Can Employers Actually Do? More Than They Think. Migraine shouldnt be a private burden. Workplaces can make a profound difference by recognizing it, adapting to it, and supporting those who live with it. 1. Give people autonomy over how they work: Flexibility in location and schedule is the single most important accommodation. Many of us can avert a severe attack if we rest at the earliest warning signsbut only if work allows it. 2. Accept sick leave for migraines without suspicion: No eye-rolling. No raised eyebrows. No unspoken judgment. If someone says, I cant work today, believe them. Trust goes a long way toward reducing stigma. 3. Reduce sensory triggers in workplaces: reduce harsh lighting, limit strong fragrances, manage noise levels, provide quiet rooms when possible. These changes dont just help migraine sufferersthey benefit everyone! 4. Train managers and HR teams: A simple awareness session can avoid years of misunderstanding. Managers need to know what migraine is (and isnt), how it affects cognition, and why flexibility is not indulgence. 5. Normalize disclosure without forcing it: People should feel safe sharing information about their condition without fear of bias. A culture of psychological safety helps enormously. 6. Support access to treatment: Health insurance plans should cover modern migraine treatments, including newly approved CGRP-targeting medications. These therapies can prevent attacks entirely or significantly reduce their severity. Supporting access is cost-effective compared to the productivity losses of unmanaged migraine. We Are Manyand We Deserve to Be Believed Millions of people navigate migraines in silence. We endure the pain itself, and then the second burden: the disbelief, the minimization, the cultural shrug. Migraine is not an excuse to avoid work. It is a neurological disease that destroys days and derails careers. We deserve to be heard and supported. We deserve autonomy, flexibility, empathy, and access to effective treatment. And above all, we deserve to be believed. {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-169.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/PhotoLVitaud-11.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cstrong\u003ESubscribe to Laetitia@Work\u003C\/strong\u003E","dek":"","subhed":"Women power the worlds productivity its time we talked more about it. Explore a woman-centered take on work, from hidden discrimination to cultural myths about aging and care. Dont miss the next issue subscribe to Laetitia@Work.","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/laetitiaatwork.substack.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91472264,"imageMobileId":91472265,"shareable":false,"slug":""}}
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