Unprecedented 'Jobless Boom' Tests Limits of US Economic Expansion

Gift link for folks: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-02-18/us-econom...

https://archive.today/ZU7Wt

Job sector growth (after revisions down) has been almost entirely within the healthcare industry which is quite unsustainable. We can't all get rich being a middle man between the doctor and our neighbors. Outside of that sector we're seeing economy-wide shrinkage and stagnant wage growth with a decrease in real wages relative to inflation.

This is a recession - it will be a full-on depression if we get a doveish Fed chair... it might be one anyways, we'll need extremely adroit action to recover into a healthy economic state.

But hey, DOW go up and that's all we care about, right?

What will the economy consist of when there are no more paychecks? Thus nobody buying anything.

We'll gain so much efficiency that the economy will evaporate.

The markets can't survive on capital alone.

LOL. Like a diet focusing on a single macro. When all that is left is capital, then that is an unhealthy diet.

Honest question, as

a) the AI narrative is annoying if not intellectually dishonest as so much money is invested in it

b) this requires a trigger warning

But if we are counting no. of payrolls: might this statistic hide the effect which mass scale deportations had?

Note: not an US citizen

All well and good if you are employed, well off and rich. But if AI starts eliminating jobs, even being rich may not help you in the coming crash. Why a crash ? Most people will not be able to buy anything other than a bit of food and pay their rent, if they are lucky.

I doubt we will see most of these impacts for 10 to 20 years. I wonder if this is a reason Trump wants low interest rates ? With low rates the rich can borrow at a low fixed rate and purchase items like Gold and Land. Then when rates have to raise, more $ for them.

What article is not mentioning is this, for the US:

Private sector: + 687,000

Government sector: – 319,000

Total: + 181,000

---

The government sector doesn't produce virtually anything that counts toward GDP, so GDP growth relates not to 181k of total employment growth but to 687k of private-sector growth. So, no, this is not about eliminating jobs and a few people getting rich. It is about statistcs, and lying to force the agenda.