How Healthy Is The U.S. Job Market, Really?

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Hi readers, happy Thursday! Today we’re covering January’s jobs data, a shooting in Canada, El Paso’s airspace closure, and long Covid’s links to Alzheimers. Today’s email is a bit shortened due to some scheduling conflicts.

“A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.” ― Vincent Van Gogh

New Year, New Job Numbers

It took until mid-February for us to get the data, but 2026 actually got off to a pretty good start. The Labor Department released its jobs report for January yesterday – the economy beat expectations by adding 130,000 jobs in the first month of the year. However, it wouldn’t be the current moment without some bad news: at the end of each year, the Labor Department updates its annual jobs data with more precise data pulled from unemployment tax records. According to that annual update, the U.S. economy had 900,000 less jobs in March 2025 than previously estimated, and jobs reports for November and December were both revised down by 17,000 jobs each. On average, the data shows that the economy added roughly 15,000 jobs each month of 2025.

“This does not remotely look like a healthy labor market,” said Federal Reserve governor Chris Waller in response to the new data. “Employers are reluctant to fire workers, but also very reluctant to hire. This indicates to me that there is considerable doubt about future employment growth and suggests that a substantial deterioration in the labor market is a significant risk.” He then encouraged the Fed to cut interest rates further, which would boost economic growth while raising the risk of inflation – currently, the Fed has indicated that it doesn’t plan to cut rates over the next few months, though the bank’s tone could change depending on how the job market pans out.

January’s job growth came even as employers reported cutting 108,435 jobs – the biggest layoff total since 2009’s recession. Warehouses, the transportation industry, and the federal government all shed significant amounts of jobs in January, while healthcare and construction led the economy in jobs gained. Healthcare growth is relatively a given in the U.S. economy at the moment, and the growth in construction can largely be chalked up to data center projects fueled by AI.

From Quiet to Crisis In Tumbler Ridge

• On Tuesday, a shooter opened fire at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, a remote town in northeastern British Columbia roughly 600 miles northeast of Vancouver. The shooter, a woman, reportedly killed at least 9 people – 7 at the school and 2 more at a nearby home – before turning her weapon on herself. At least 25 others were wounded in the incident.

• “It was not a pretty sight. Families are still waiting to hear if it’s their child that’s deceased and because of protocol and procedure, the investigating team is very careful in releasing names,” said Rev. George Rowe, a local church leader. “The big thing tonight was my having to walk away and the families still waiting to find out. It is so difficult. Other pastors and counselors are there, so they are not alone.”

• Parents and community members living in the 2,500-person town only realized something was wrong when they were notified that the local school had gone into lockdown. The lockdown lasted about three and a half hours, after which people inside the school were released. Local police have identified the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, as having a history of mental health issues. She had attended the school at one point, but dropped out four years ago.

Additional World News

• ‘Stark warning’: pesticide harm to wildlife rising globally, study finds (Guardian) 

• UN is waiting to see how much the US intends to pay of the nearly $4 billion it owes (AP)

• 53 people dead or missing after migrant boat capsizes in Mediterranean (Guardian) 

• The Bangladesh Elections Are on Thursday. Here’s What to Know. (NYT, $)

• Trump tells Netanyahu Iran nuclear talks must continue (BBC)

• North Korea leader Kim's daughter on way to becoming successor, South Korean MPs say (Reuters)

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No More Flight Privileges Until You Stop Shooting Lasers

• Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) abruptly shut down the airspace over El Paso, Texas. Just a few hours later, the closure was reversed just as quickly. The White House has stated that the airspace was closed due to an incursion of Mexican drug cartel drones over the area, but officials with knowledge of the incident say that the closure was actually caused by a clash between the FAA and the Pentagon.

• According to Politico, citing an aviation industry official granted anonymity to speak on the matter, the airspace restriction was put in place because the Pentagon was testing anti-drone laser technology without FAA approval. The Pentagon, according to another source, notified the FAA about the tests but didn’t provide enough details to make the agency comfortable with keeping the airspace open, as high-energy lasers can cause serious harm to pilots flying at lower altitudes.

• The incident is the latest in a long line of clashes between Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon and the FAA. Last January, a military Black Hawk helicopter crashed into a civilian aircraft over the Potomac River, killing 67 people; since then, military aircraft have increasingly been involved in more close calls with civilian planes, though they’ve avoided catastrophic crashes for the time being.

Additional USA News

• US House passes bill to require proof of US citizenship for midterm voters (Reuters)

• Four takeaways from Pam Bondi's fiery Epstein testimony (BBC)

• Border patrol chief praised federal agent who shot US citizen in Chicago (Guardian) 

• New rule to bar green card holders from US Small Business Administration loans (Reuters)

• In North Carolina, a Tight Primary Could Upend the Balance of Conservative Power (NYT, $) 

• Arizona sheriff finds himself under a microscope with the Nancy Guthrie case in its 2nd week (AP)

Long Covid Looms Large

• According to a study recently published by researchers from New York University Langone Health, long Covid can trigger changes in people’s brains that spark symptoms similar to Alzheimer’s disease. The choroid plexus (CP) is a network of blood vessels in the brain which are lined by cells that produce cerebrospinal fluid – that fluid cushions the brain and spinal cord, and also moves waste and nutrients around the system. 

• “Our work suggests that long-term immune reactions caused in some cases after an initial COVID infection may come with swelling that damages a critical brain barrier in the choroid plexus,” said one of the study’s authors. “Physical, molecular, and clinical evidence suggests that a larger CP may be an early warning sign of future Alzheimer’s-like cognitive decline.”

• The researchers, who analyzed data from 86 long Covid patients, 67 people who had fully recovered from Covid, and 26 healthy individuals, predict that chronic inflammation caused by long Covid might cause blood vessels in the CP to thicken, leading to the unwanted growth. Luckily, the authors note that “it is currently unknown whether these changes are reversible. We are actively analyzing their follow-up data to address this question,” they said.

Additional Reads

• TikTok is tracking you, even if you don't use the app. Here's how to stop it (BBC)

• Six planets line up for rare parade throughout February (Guardian)

• The Physics Behind the Quadruple Axel, the Most Difficult Jump in Figure Skating (Wired, $)

• Moltbot and AI’s Social-Media Awakening (NYMag)

• Scientists Figured Out the Problem With Johnson & Johnson’s COVID Vaccine (Atlantic, $)

• I had cancer. Did I need all the miserable comforters too? (Psyche)

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