PAYROLL PLUNGE

In CY2023, net job growth averaged 210,000/month; in CY2024, 122,000/month; in CY2025, 10,000/month; and from 1/26–7/26, it’s 61,000/month. Job growth has clearly slowed, partly due to changing immigration policies. Other factors, including Boomer retirements and fewer births, no doubt play a role, but they’ve been steadily ongoing for years. Most disappointingly, the dramatic slowdown shows that the native-born are not picking up jobs formerly performed by those no longer here.