February 11, 2026
Job vibes: doom vs hope
U.S. had almost no job growth in 2025
Jobs fizzled in 2025; January pops—but commenters see a “casino economy”
TLDR: Revised data show the U.S. added just 181,000 jobs in 2025, though January 2026 surprised with a 130,000 gain and unemployment dipped. Comments split between “casino economy” doomers and healthcare‑is‑hiring pragmatists, arguing whether this is a shaky recovery or sugar‑coated stats—important for wallets and votes.
Revised federal data just dropped a plot twist: 2025 added only 181,000 jobs—far below the earlier 584,000 estimate—making it the weakest year for hiring since 2020. The BLS yanked 862,000 jobs from March 2024–March 2025 in annual revisions, and even Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned last year’s numbers were “too rosy.” Cue the comment section meltdown. One doom poster claimed “the US lost 600,000 jobs in January,” while others clapped back with receipts: January actually surprised with +130,000 jobs and unemployment dipping to 4.3%.
The vibes split hard. The biggest gains were in health care (+137,000), sparking the meme “if you get sick, you get a job.” Manufacturing squeaked out +5,000 (its first rise since Jan 2024), while leisure and hospitality barely budged (+1,000), fanning worries about consumer spending. Meanwhile, federal government and finance shed jobs, and markets read the tea leaves as “no rate cuts until summer.”
Commenters turned the economy into a mood board: “Only a golden age for the uber wealthy,” one wrote, while another dubbed it a “Casino economy” powered by AI, betting apps, and GLP-1 weight‑loss drug hype. The Super Bowl ad lineup became Exhibit A for a nation gambling on tech vibes. Politics? The 2026 midterms are now a jobs narrative cage match, with half the thread screaming “cooling labor market” and the other half yelling “we’re cooked.”
Key Points
- •BLS revised U.S. job growth in 2025 down to 181,000, from a preliminary 584,000, marking the weakest year since 2020 (or since 2003 outside a recession).
- •January 2026 added 130,000 jobs, beating expectations of 55,000; health care led with 137,000 jobs while federal government and financial activities lost jobs.
- •Manufacturing saw little change overall but added 5,000 factory jobs in January, the first monthly increase since January 2024.
- •The unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in January; 2025 had four months of contraction after revisions, and BLS removed 862,000 jobs from Mar 2024–Mar 2025.
- •Markets reacted to mixed signals: Treasury bonds fell, yields rose, and futures imply limited odds of a rate cut before July; Jerome Powell earlier flagged likely overstatement in 2025 hiring.