According to the BLS, the economy added more than 130,000 jobs total, including 82,000 jobs added in health care and a further 42,000 in related care work. But strip out those gains, and the picture that emerges is one of contraction, not underlying strength. Other white-collar categories simply stayed flat, neither growing nor contracting.

Recent data showing declines in white-collar job openings tells a similar story. Listings for roles in professional and business services appear to have fallen to their lowest level in more than a decade, the steepest declines of any sector.

The hiring rate has dropped to levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis. At the same time, wage growth is slowing.

The Employment Cost Index points to weakening bargaining power for workers. The index rose 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, making for the slowest pace since early 2021 and only modestly above the rate of inflation.

Meanwhile, prices are rising, functioning to erode workers’ purchasing power. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that a range of companies, from clothing brands to appliance makers, are raising prices to reflect the cost of tariffs and ever-accelerating healthcare costs.

Conclusion? “The US white-collar recession is accelerating.”

https://qz.com/white-collar-jobs-recession-signs-data#:~:text=Slowing%20wage%20growth.,Or%20just%20a%20job%2C%20period.