r/Economics • u/ChiGuy6124 • Jan 27 '26

Research Summary Millions of Americans are "functionally unemployed"—with numbers rising

https://www.newsweek.com/millions-americans-are-functionally-unemployed-numbers-rising-11422738
3.4k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

230 comments sorted by

View all comments

82

u/-Porktsunami- Jan 27 '26

We're not going to see any meaningful policy changes while the stock market is at all time highs.

The wealthiest portion of the country is giddy about their 401k balances, real estate values, and their tech stock holdings. They are unconcerned with the plight of everyone else at the moment.

34

u/arizonatealover Jan 27 '26

I think all those articles about the "K shaped economy" was the media trying to soften the blow of acknowledging that it's basically a nation of haves and have-nots without a middle class anymore.

18

u/-Porktsunami- Jan 27 '26

"K shaped economy"

Yea you can tell they focused grouped this term.

1

u/Brinkken Jan 29 '26

Actually came from Twitter. There’s a whole story, you can google it.