FT has learned about the record decline in the US labor market

Unemployed Americans have been looking for work for an average of more than 11 weeks, the highest rate since the COVID-19 pandemic. This was reported on January 26 by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper, citing data from the US Department of Labor.

At the same time, about 26% of the 7.5 million unemployed Americans who are actively looking for work have been searching for more than six months.

"If we don't take into account the pandemic, we are now seeing the highest rate in the last 10 years, and it [continues to grow]," said Corey Stale, an economist at Indeed, a job search website.

Despite the widespread opinion that the reduction in the number of jobs is related to the introduction of AI technologies, Stale notes that the number of vacancies has decreased in "areas that have little to do with technology, for example, in the hotel business."

Previously published data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms the cooling of the American labor market. In December 2025, 50,000 jobs were created in the country, which is significantly lower than the projected 70,000.

Human capital: Foreign labor is becoming scarce in the global economy

How exactly will Russia adapt to these changes

The Washington Post reported last December that more than 41,000 jobs were lost in the U.S. labor market in two months, and the unemployment rate reached its highest level of 4.6% since 2021. It clarifies that organizations have stopped recruiting new staff due to rising taxes and inflation.

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