The 2025 labor market has been generously described as “unstable,” with virtually no jobs growth and a slew of headwinds expected to conspire against it. In 2026, though, the buzzword seems to be “stable,” even though conditions seem to be largely the same. The picture continues to be of a low-hire, low-fire climate, where companies are both reticent to lay off employees as demand continues to be strong, but also are leery of adding staff amid uncertainty over tariffs, inflation and geopolitics. However, characterizations coming from Federal Reserve officials and market economists have grown at least a bit more ... (full story)