Here’s what I can’t square in my head, but maybe it’s just me: I agree that 4% just seems off because of the sheer number of layoffs, and the constant dreambeat out there from people saying they can’t even get interviews. To me, that tracks way closer to something quite a bit higher than 4%. However, looking at the same rate over the past 30 years we are at one of the lowest rates of unemployment that we’ve ever been. WAIT, what? Yeah - according to the tru rate the past 4 years or so are the best employment rates we’ve seen including today’s. That also seems off to me. what do you think? More on reddit.com

Really nothing in particular. Unemployment is low, other measures are also looking good. The most likely explanation is that social media tends to be an echo chamber and people with problems post about them a whole lot more than people without problems. The biggest thing you could point out is that the job market for recent college grads and young workers is slightly worse, but that's about it. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14024887 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:unemployment Keep in mind, the US is a big country. A million people being unemployed is a lot of people, but it's also a third of a percent of the US population. More on reddit.com

I have a small hunch that people kind of have to work because otherwise they have no money. so they have to do whatever work they can because it costs sooo much to live now. More on reddit.com

One industry can be in recession while others are experiencing boom times. Tech workers were getting filthy rich in 2012 when Facebook IPOd while the average American was suffering through 8% unemployment. Economies are big things. More on reddit.com