GoKawiil
Tech News
A new analysis challenges the widespread narrative that generative AI will trigger a sudden 'job apocalypse.' It argues that despite rapid advances in AI capability and warnings from prominent figures about mass unemployment and hollowed-out professions, current evidence does not support claims of imminent, widespread job destruction.
AI leaders such as Sam Altman, Dario Amodei and Marc Andreessen previously predicted that powerful AI would push the cost of labor and goods toward zero and cause widespread job losses. Instead, employment remains high and prices are climbing, with the Conference Board's consumer confidence index recently hitting its lowest level since 2014.
The Labor Department reported only 29,000 new jobs in September 2026, far below the 90,000 economists expected, while unemployment edged up to 4.2% from 4.1%. Revisions cut a combined 60,000 jobs from July and August figures, and annual wage growth slowed to 3%, its weakest pace since May 2021.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Monday that the central bank might need to accept higher unemployment as a cost of bringing down persistently high inflation. He noted that supply shocks create a short-term conflict between the Fed's dual goals of stable prices and maximum employment, forcing policymakers to prioritize one over the other.
A new Gallup survey finds 47% of Americans now want unions to hold more influence, up from 43% in 2023 and just 25% in 2009. Meanwhile, those wanting less union influence fell to 23%, and overall approval of unions climbed to 71%, matching levels last seen in 1965.
A new Burning Glass Institute analysis, reported by the Wall Street Journal, shows workers aged 22-34 without college degrees are experiencing some of their lowest unemployment rates in decades, while their degree-holding peers face one of their worst job markets in years. Chief economist Gad Levanon says this shift appears structural rather than temporary.
The Kansas Department of Labor, under Secretary Amber Shultz, has modernized its unemployment insurance technology, replacing software that dated back to the 1970s. Previously, agents juggled five separate screens, some requiring command-line input without mouse support, and the system shut down nightly for batch processing, blocking claims filed in the evening. The agency has now introduced AI-driven tools to streamline the filing process and support staff.
The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) has developed the True Rate of Unemployment, a metric built from Bureau of Labor Statistics data that counts people without full-time work, those earning below a living wage of roughly $26,000 a year, and those with no job at all. The measure aims to give a fuller picture of financial hardship than the official unemployment rate captures.