Cargo theft ramps up

Okay. Look. Fish tacos. That's all I'm saying. From American public media, this is Market Plans. In Los Angeles, I'm Kai Rizal. It is Wednesday today. This one is the February 4. Good as always. Stevie along, everybody. We begin on this Wednesday as we are want to do from time to time with an eye on the economic calendar. The Bureau of Labor Statistics no longer shut down, told us this morning that the January unemployment report originally due on Friday will now show up on Wednesday next, which great. But at this point, can you blame us for trying to find other ways to measure the labor market at this fraught moment? The payroll processing company ADP said this morning the economy added just 22,000 jobs in January. Marketplace Sabri Beneshore spent his day reading those labor market tea leaves. Clarence Clew is 43. He's his own boss. He's worked in PR in New York for a long time, and he is thinking it is time to branch out. I see the writing on the wall for the industry in itself. Businesses are still figuring out AI. Budgets are on hold. So he's looking for all kinds of positions. The world around us is changing rapidly. I think we should be open to evolving as well. Easier said than done. How do I feel about the market right now? Honestly, I think it's a bit terrifying. Clue's not alone in feeling that way. Consumer sentiment is still depressed. That said, the job market looks to be at least stable. There's still jobs being added, but it's at a much slower rate. Macrina Wilkins is director of market insights at Associated General Contractors of America. It's hard to tell for sure right now because the government isn't releasing official data. So economists are looking at other things, like what payroll processors are reporting. January, we saw 37,000 jobs added by small businesses. That's right around the monthly average for the past year. Andrew Chamberlain is chief economist at Gusto, an HR platform serving half a million businesses. We don't see any evidence of any, like, bottom falling out of the small business hiring market. If anything, Chamberlain is cautiously optimistic. Payroll processing giant ADP reported that from what it sees, the rate of job growth fell by half between 2024 and 2025, but it's been leveling off. Healthcare is still doing well. And Chamberlain says those interest rate cuts the Federal Reserve made last year are gonna start showing up in the job market. Borrowing costs are going down. And if you talk to any small business owner, they use loans to cover payroll and, like, basic day to day operations. So those lower interest rates are oxygen for small businesses that wanna grow. There are other clues too. The number of people applying for unemployment insurance has been ticking down the past few months. Jonathan Pengal is chief economist at UBS. It does not look like a rapidly …