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Comment by ZeroCool2u | Hacker News Reader

Bloomberg gift linK: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-07/us-job-op...

Not necessary, this information is free:

https://finviz.com/calendar/economic/detail/UNITEDSTAJOBOFF?...

> Job openings in the US fell by 303,000 to 7.146 million in November 2025, the lowest since December 2020 and well below market expectations of 7.60 million. The number of job openings decreased in accommodation and food services (-148,000); transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-108,000); and wholesale trade (-63,000). On the other hand, openings increased in construction (+90,000). Meanwhile, hires were little changed and total separations were unchanged at 5.1 million each. Within separations, both quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.7 million) were little changed.

transportation, warehousing, and utilities being a headlining loser here is the most striking.... perhaps?

Certainly sounds like canaries telling us the rest of the economy is not doing great. (Not warning us that it's going to have problems. Telling us it already does.)

The economy canaries can't tell us anything: they're already dead.

That's literally how the canaries would inform the miners about toxic gases.

"Yes, Ted. That was the joke."

Happily, this wasn't actually the case. Canaries faint long before they die and miners would carry small resuscitation chambers where the canaries could be reawakened in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The Science and Industry Museum in Liverpool has one in their collection: https://blog.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/canary-resuscit...

Interesting, but I frankly doubt the birds remained utterly unharmed. Birds are really sensitive to many gases, with the common anecdote being to not cook with nonstick pans if you have a parrot.

Heavy Truck Sales Collapsed in Q4; Down 32.5% Year-over-Year in December - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46514490 - January 2026

(heavy trucks sales collapse is a recession indicator)

Craig Fuller - the CEO of Freightwave - has been indicating that their freight data clearly suggests the US economy is in much worse shape than official reporting.

this is usually more accurate than most indicators - as America's economy runs on trucks not donuts.

more trucks on the road - more goods flowing - heavy machinery included, things getting built etc. less trucks - trouble

I'd say personally it's worthwhile for Americans to know where to get the canonical data directly: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.a.htm. Everything else is some sort of spin, interpretation, or at best selective reporting of the underlying primary data.

I generally agree. But with the current administration firing the former BLS chief (possibly due to bad numbers being reported) and changing economic reporting (e.g. PPI and GDP estimates), I'm not sure I trust the government data to not also have some sort of spin or selective releasing.

Gift link costs me nothing :)

> Some economists have questioned the validity of the JOLTS data, in part due to the survey’s low response rate and sometimes sizable revisions. A separate index by job-posting site Indeed, which is reported on a daily basis, showed openings rebounded in November after reaching a multiyear low.

Thank you!

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