More Than Half of U.S. Industries Are Shedding Jobs – Welcome to the Economic Crisis They Don’t Want You to Admit

Hello everyone. Let’s talk about the United States economy – that wondrous MMO where the developers keep pushing updates without telling anyone, the patch notes only appear six months too late, and the servers spontaneously crash because someone changed the loot table for the jobs market.

Mark Zandi over at Moody’s Analytics has sounded his trumpet yet again – and no, it’s not the sweet melody of good economic times. Apparently, over 53% of industries are shrinking their payrolls. Yes, more than half. That usually means “welcome to recession town, population: you.” But hold your applause, folks – officially, the U.S. is still “not there yet.” In government-speak, that’s like a raid leader telling you the dragon isn’t enraged yet – meanwhile, it’s already chewing through the healers.

The Illusion of “Not a Recession”

In theory, we’re looking at an economy on life support but technically still breathing. The National Bureau of Economic Research gets to decide when the patient is “officially” dead, but let’s be real – by the time they make the call, the funeral’s over, the flowers have wilted, and someone’s already moved into the flat. Zandi spells it out: a recession is a “significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” Guess what we’ve ticked off so far? Weak job growth, downward revisions, over half of industries cutting.

It’s the economic equivalent of your lab report saying you don’t technically have the plague – you’ve just got black spots, a high fever, and you’re coughing up blood. Sure, keep walking it off.

The Payroll Numbers from Hell

• May’s job gains slashed from 144,000 to a pathetic 19,000.
• June’s total downgraded from 147,000 to just 14,000.
• Average gain over the past three months? A laughable 35,000 jobs.

If this was a DPS chart in a raid, you’d be in the bottom tier with your keyboard unplugged. And what’s the justification? Apparently, we’ll only know we’re in trouble after the revisions, which – surprise! – consistently turn out worse than initially reported. It’s like your accountant telling you every payday that your paycheck might actually be half as much, but they’ll confirm that in a few months.

Health Care – The Only Class Still Leveling Up

Of the roughly 400 industries surveyed, only health care is hiring in any meaningful way. That’s right – the one sector that thrives when everyone else is sick, broke, or dying is actually gaining ground. In gaming terms, the healers are racking up XP while every other class wipes repeatedly. Not exactly a balanced game economy, is it?

The Great Blame Game: Demand, Supply, and Politics

Analysts are split on what’s poisoning the system. Some say weak demand, others say weak supply, particularly because of the immigration crackdown that’s reduced the number of foreign-born workers. The pro players at JPMorgan point to hiring in the private sector dropping to a miserable 52,000 on average, excluding health and education. That’s not “mid-tier slump” territory; that’s you dropping from diamond league into bronze overnight.

And then there’s the conspiracy-theory-friendly angle: massive data revisions and conveniently delayed recognition of a recession are “normal at turning points.” Translation: the devs know the economy’s broken, but they’ll patch it after we’ve spent more money on the DLC.

The False Comfort of the Unemployment Rate

The powers that be wave around the 4% unemployment rate like it’s a shield against bad news – except that this particular shield is made of papier-mâché. The labor force is flat thanks to immigration policy changes, so unemployment stats are basically fiddled UI numbers: they look stable, but they don’t represent what’s actually happening in the game world.

Final Diagnosis

From a doctor’s point of view, the vitals are tanking: pulse is weak, breathing is shallow, and the color’s gone from the face. Yet the official record still says “patient is stable.” From a gamer’s perspective, we’ve hit the “red flashing health bar” stage where you either chug every healing potion you’ve got or die in the next hit. Politically? We’re in the bizarre stage where everyone’s arguing over whether the boss has started its second phase even though it’s clearly throwing new attacks at us.

My overall verdict? Not good. We’re heading for a wall, and the driver insists we’re still on the straight and narrow. The numbers are telling us one thing, the institutions are telling us another, and I’d put my money on the numbers – or I would if inflation hadn’t already turned my dollar into a tin badge from a cereal box.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

More than half of industries are already shedding workers, a ‘telling’ sign that’s accompanied past recessions, top economist says, https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-half-industries-already-shedding-171804971.html