US saw pandemic-level layoffs in 2025, and 2026 job growth may be 'uncomfortably slow.' What to do in a tough job market

Navigating a occupation hunt and unemployment is hard, but 2025 was peculiarly hard for out-of-work Americans, according to some economists and occupation seekers themselves.

Business Insider reported (1) that applicants are present facing a big of frustrating roadblocks: ‘ghosting’ by recruiters, a ample and competitory pool, property favoritism and their résumés presumably getting screened retired by AI tools. Some candidates are getting to the last circular of interviews wherever they’ve been told everything but “you’ve got the job” — lone for the institution to spell vigor silent.

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“I had 3 astonishing interviews with the recruiter, and the hiring squad called maine successful for a luncheon ‘meet and greet' with the squad I’d beryllium managing. It was a wonderful, enjoyable lunch, and I near feeling precise confident,” a occupation seeker commented connected Hiring Hub (2).

“Now, a week has passed, and nothing. I don’t deliberation it’s just oregon nonrecreational to permission maine hanging. I truly conscionable privation to perceive something.”

Job marketplace conditions aren’t expected to alteration overmuch successful 2026. Even though economical maturation is looking up, unemployment rates are predicted to stay elevated (3).

Hiring rates were grim for occupation seekers crossed astir sectors successful 2025. The twelvemonth showed the weakest rates of employment maturation extracurricular of recession years since 2003, CNN reported, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information (4). The twelvemonth ended underwhelmingly with conscionable 50,000 caller jobs added successful December, beneath expectations.

If an applicant manages to onshore a position, the fearfulness of layoff tin linger. An October 2025 Harris Poll for Bloomberg (5) showed that 55% of Americans were acrophobic astir losing their jobs.

The twelvemonth saw a surge successful layoffs with employers letting spell much than 1.2 cardinal Americans from their roles, 58% higher than successful 2024 and the highest complaint since 2020 pandemic levels, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas (6).

Government jobs and the exertion assemblage were deed hard, with companies similar Microsoft, Amazon and Verizon shedding ample portions of their workforces (7).

Business uncertainty was precocious successful 2025, with fluctuating commercialized policies and President Donald Trump’s tariffs connected imported goods making companies wary of hiring oregon adding caller roles.