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The job market’s humming—151,000 new gigs in February 2025, but the numbers whisper trouble, per BLS. Unemployment’s at 4.1%, wages crept up 4% yearly, yet federal cuts and tariffs are shaking things up. Let’s break it down—plain talk, real stakes.

Start with the stats: 151,000 jobs added—health care packed on 52,000, but government lost 10,000 and leisure shed 16,000, says NBC News. Unemployment ticked from 4.0% to 4.1% (CNN), with 460,000 more part-timers—folks wanting full-time but stuck short. Wages rose 0.3% monthly, 4% over 12 months—below the 4.2% Wall Street guessed (CNBC). Last March? Jobs hit 236,000, unemployment 3.5%, wages 4.6%—BLS archives show it was hotter then.

What’s driving it? DOGE’s federal layoffs—10,000 gone, 62,000 more cut by contractors—sting hard (Reuters). Tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China slap $1,000 extra on your bill—prices jump, firms freeze hiring (Reuters). Consumer confidence tanked—biggest drop in four years, per World Economic Forum. Health care’s booming—52,000 jobs—but retail’s shaky (NBC).

Those federal workers? Health care’s begging—hospitals train, no degree needed, pay’s $40,000-$70,000 (BLS). Tariffs might pull jobs back—Ford’s eyeing U.S. truck parts (Reuters)—outsourcing’s unethical dodge. Layman’s econ: we tariff ‘cause they do—fair trade, not free ride (WEF). AI’s shifting—37% of execs train for it (WEF)—but humans beat bots in care.

I’ve outlasted grief, disability—grit’s my gold. Jobs cooling—7% growth by 2030 if CEOs quit outsourcing (WEF). Push ‘em—bring work home, open the books. Hit AshesOnAir.org—economy biting? Spill it—lead the charge.

This is Ashes—cutting the current, light the way.

Sources: CNN.com, Reuters.com, Statista.com, TechCrunch.com, NPR.org, ACLU.org, APA.org, Forbes.com

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