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It now takes more than 23 weeks on average for an unemployed person in the US to find a new job. For 1 in 4 unemployed people, or 1.8 million Americans, they are still job hunting six months later. Long-term unemployment is now at its highest level in three years. Thats not great news for those affected by the layoffs sweeping through companies like Target, Amazon, Nike and Pinterest in the first months of the year. As of January 2026, there are 386,000 more long-term unemployed Americansthose who have been looking for jobs for more than 27 weeksthan there were in January 2025. How did we get here? A low-hire, low-fire environment defined much of 2025 and is now carrying over into 2026. While this has kept the unemployment rate historically low, at just over 4% in December, news of corporate layoffs wereand still arenever far from the headlines. The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that companies slashed more than 108,000 jobs last month, the most since October and the worst January for job cuts since 2009. U.S. employers added just 181,000 jobs in all of 2025, compared to 1.46 million in 2024. Private employers added 22,000 jobs in January, payroll processor ADP reported last week, again far fewer than economists had predicted. Another upshot of a low-hire, low-fire environmentfewer people quitting their jobs, with most opting to sit tight in their roles and ride out a tumultuous economy. This perfect storm means those in need of a job are having a harder time finding one. Its simple math: The supply of job seekers is far outpacing demand. Roughly one million more people are seeking work than there were available jobs as of December, according to BLS data analyzed by Indeed. By now, theyve also exhausted their 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits in many cases, which replace less than 40% of a persons previous income on average. The long-term unemployment issue shows no signs of abating. Instead, faced with a stagnant market and a broken social contract, many are getting creative with solutions. The unemployed-to-self-employed pipeline has never been stronger. Others are channelling their inner doomsday prepper. Some, instead of spending their days poring over job listings or firing out résumés, are simply accepting their fate and reframing it as their funemployment era. Whatever the casea lot of Americans are out of work. And staying that way for a long time.
Category:
E-Commerce
Gary Vaynerchuk prides himself on being ahead of the curve. As the chairman of communications company VaynerX and the cofounder of Resy, not to mention an angel investor in brands like Twitter, Facebook, Uber, and Venmo, he knows a thing or two about trends in business. And in a new interview with CBS Mornings, he shared what he thinks is to blame for consumer burnout: not advertisers, social media, or even consumers themselvesbut modern parenting. I think that parenting needs to be called out of the last 40 years, Vaynerchuk said. I believe that the burnout, the insecurity, all the stuff we talk about, I believe the reason we’re buying more stuff is, we’re using it as Band-Aids and glitter because we’re not strong enough to be secure in what we are and who we are and what we have. What many people blame on an oversaturated market and the omnipresence of social media, Vaynerchuk attributes to overly lax parenting. After all, he says, being inundated with ads is nothing new. We grew up with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. MTV Cribs had plenty of run, he pointed out. We want to blame technology for a much bigger issue, which is modern parenting misstepped. We don’t hold kids accountable, we don’t ground, we definitely don’t whoop. Vaynerchuk claimed he receives tens of thousands of DMs from 20-to-30-year-olds every month that often cite frustration with being coddled by parents, from being tracked on apps like Life360 into adulthood, to having their lives bankrolled with no expectation of paying their family back. We’re sending these kids into the real world, and we’re wondering why they’re depressed,” Vaynerchuk continued. “They’re depressed because they weren’t taught any accountability. Eighth place trophies for everyone.” We’ve demonized losing, when losing is the teacher,” he added. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CBS Mornings (@cbsmornings) Elsewhere in the interview, Vaynerchuk gave his predictions for the next big industry in Americalive shopping, already a half-trillion dollar industry in China, is where social media in 2009 wasas well as for the future of artificial intelligence. All of it is gonna lead to us having more time for leisure, he said. I think there’s a scenario where we go to a four-day work week because of efficiencies and subsidies from the biggest winners in AI.” People are worried about losing money,” Vaynerchuk continued. “People are scared of losing their jobs. But the tractor was invented when 80% of us worked on farms 200 years ago, and we found new jobs . . . Instead of, wah, wah, wah, what about, Let me take control of it? What about all the people that might get inspired by this interview, and get a job in three years that pays them three times more that they’re happy about, because they took the AI surfboard instead of putting their head in the sand?
Category:
E-Commerce
Ikea plans to open even more new stores this year. On Wednesday, the Swedish furniture retailer released its 2025 Annual Summary, which included plans to open four new locations. Ikea previously announced plans to open six new stores, bringing the new total for openings slated in 2026 to 10. The latest batch of locations includes stores in Chicago, Fort Collins, Los Angeles, and Tulsa. The six previously announced Ikea locations include: Huntsville, Alabama; University Park in Dallas; Phoenix; Rockwall in Dallas; the Chantilly/Dulles area in the Washington region; and Houston-Webster, Texas. Per the announcement, Ikea had a successful 2025, despite a challenging economic environment. The company reported $5.3 billion in total sales and said it saw foot traffic from more than 61 million people. It opened 14 new locations and its Ikea Family Rewards program reached 25 million membersa 17% increase from the previous year. FY25 was a year of meaningful connection and growth despite a challenging external environment. We strengthened our ability to serve customers through new store formats, digital innovation and expanded rewards, all while reinforcing our commitment to communities and the environment, said Rob Olson, Interim CEO of Ikea U.S., in the announcement. Olson continued, Looking ahead to FY26, we will build on this momentum, focusing on continued investment in the U.S. to make Ikea more affordable, accessible and sustainable. For the state of Oklahoma, the Tulsa location will be its first-ever Ikea. It comes after a campaign called Tulsa Loves Ikea championed the idea. On social media, dozens of Tulsa residents couldn’t contain their excitement when commenting on a post about the opening. One local wrote, “I cant wait to go play house inside ikea!” Another commented, “The way I’m jumping up and down at work right now… so exciting!” Last year, Ikea’s new CEO Juvencio Maeztu spoke to Fast Company on why the chain is committed to keeping prices low, citing inflation and high costs of living. Maeztu also credited “the need to socialize” as to why Ikea stores still draw customers while other chains are collapsing. “People still have the need to go out,” Maeztu said. “Thats why its important that we call it a meeting placenot necessarily a shopping centerand when you visit our meeting place its a way to connect with the communities . . . to create traffic with engagement and food and events.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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