The uneasy economy? Americans called it

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics' revised data shows that only half the jobs we thought had been created between March 2024 and March 2025, actually materialized.

Economist and host of the Optimist Economy podcast, Kathryn Anne Edwards, joins Max Chafkin and Stacey Vanek Smith to unpack the conflicting signals that economic data and the stock markets give us — and what they say about the health of the economy.

Not that long ago the US economy was wrestling with an interesting problem: jobs data looked very strong with historically low unemployment and historically low firings, but people didn’t feel good about the economy. The dissonance became known as the “vibecession” and was the topic of many economic and policy debates. The question was: Why do people feel bad about the economy when the economy is actually doing great?

With help of revised data, we now know that the vibes were right. This week, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics—part of the Trump administration’s Department of Labor—released its latest data, which included a massive revision. The US economy created roughly 900,000 fewer jobs between March 2024 and March 2025 than previously thought, the BLS says. That means only about half the jobs we thought had been created actually materialized, according to the agency. How did this happen and what does this mean?

This week, economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, host of the Optimist Economy podcast, joins us to talk about how a giant revision like this can happen, as well as how it reflects on the market and the economy. Also this week, Max Chafkin talks about his book The Contrarian, which looks at the world of Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. We discuss his influence and what it reveals about the intersection of technology, money and ideology. Also why he is suddenly so interested in the “antichrist.”

A smart and fun chat show about all things business. Hosted by award-winning business and economics journalists Max Chafkin (author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power) and Stacey Vanek Smith (former co-host of NPR’s Planet Money and reporter for Marketplace), Everybody's Business is powered by the unparalleled sources and reporters who bring you Businessweek magazine’s headlines and the stories behind them. The show gives listeners a window into the discussions happening in boardrooms, Zooms and group chats in power centers around the world. From interpreting Fed meetings to the business of wolf cloning, each week Max, Stacey and their friends at Bloomberg Businessweek guide listeners through what really went on during the last week from Wall Street and Main Street. Because what’s happening with money and markets is everybody’s business.

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Where Did the 1,000,000 Jobs Go?

Everybody's Business