by Michael Snyder
"I feel quite exasperated right now. Everyone knows that the economic numbers that federal bureaucrats in Washington are feeding us each month are fraudulent. It has been that way for a very long time. The employment numbers are a perfect example of this. Every month they give us a headline number that looks pretty good, and then months later they revise it much lower when nobody is paying attention. That is the game they want to play, and many of us understand that. But this latest stunt that they have pulled is absolutely astounding. More than a million U.S. jobs suddenly disappeared from the numbers, and they would like us to believe that this is perfectly normal. How are we supposed to have any faith in the numbers that the BLS releases each month if they are off by this much?
As Zero Hedge has reported, nonfarm employment in the United States as of December 31st, 2025 was revised down from 159.546 million to 158.497 million…"Starting at the top, total US payrolls were revised dramatically lower starting with the Jan 2021 data and every month since, and net of the cumulative changes December 31, 2025 total nonfarm employment was revised lower by 1.029 million from 159.546 million to 158.497 million.
As expected, the bulk of the negative revisions took place in 2025, with negative revisions to 2024 amounting to -413K, 2023 was just -73K while 2021 and 2021 were revised modestly higher. Focusing on 2025, the negative revisions to both the year and previous years, meant that the change in total jobs for 2025 was revised from an already low +584,000 to a shockingly low +181,000."
How can over a million jobs suddenly disappear? Well, the truth is that they never actually existed in the first place. It was all smoke and mirrors. Let’s take a look at the January numbers. We are being told that the U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January…"The Labor Department on Wednesday reported that employers added 130,000 jobs in January. That figure was above the expectations of economists polled by LSEG, who estimated the economy would add 70,000 jobs. The unemployment rate was 4.3%, slightly lower than economists’ expectations of 4.4%. But the “unadjusted” figure for January was actually a loss of 2.6 million jobs…"
There is another reason why today’s report will be revised away: while the seasonally adjusted change was a stronger than expected 130K, the unadjusted was a negative 2.649 million. That means that the entire delta in today’s “surprise beat” was due to seasonal adjustments. Isn’t that fun? Everyone is running around talking about the “130,000 jobs” the U.S. added last month, knowing that the “adjusted” number will almost certainly be revised down multiple times later on. But the “unadjusted” number shows that the U.S. economy lost 2.6 million jobs in January. Yes, mass layoffs really are happening all over the nation. In January, the number of job cut announcements was the highest that we have seen for that month since 2009. And even though 2.6 million jobs were actually lost last month, the government is telling us that 130,000 were gained.
What a joke. Meanwhile, more bad news about the housing market continues to roll in. In January 2026, the number of foreclosure filings in the United States was 32 percent higher than it was in January 2025…With the number of Americans losing their homes to banks rising for an eleventh straight month, it’s clear the housing crisis is getting worse rather than better. US foreclosure activity jumped again in January 2026, with a total of 40,534 properties facing foreclosure filings – a 32 percent increase from the same time last year. Foreclosure filings cover every stage of the process, from the moment a lender issues a legal warning to the point a home is formally seized after missed mortgage payments.
It is starting to feel like 2008 all over again. We are off to such a bad start in 2026, and this comes on the heels of a year in which foreclosure filings were 14 percent higher than the previous year… The bleak start to 2026 follows an already brutal 2025, when 367,460 US properties faced foreclosure filings – up 14 percent from the year before, according to a previus report from ATTOM. Foreclosures are clearly trending in the wrong direction. And the outlook for the months ahead is not promising at all, because mortgage delinquencies among low-income households have been steadily increasing…"90-day delinquency rates have skyrocketed among borrowers in the lowest-income ZIP codes, rising to 3% in the fourth quarter from 0.5% in 2021." We are now at the highest level that we have seen in about a decade.
At the same time, electricity bills are rising to unprecedented heights. Some are complaining that their monthly electricity bills now exceed $800, and others are complaining that their electricity bills now exceed $1,000…On Reddit, one user in the r/homeowners group shared that their electric bill in Pittsburgh topped $800. Others weighed in with their experiences, and suggested making modifications to save money. “Everyone needs to take quicker showers, don’t leave hot water run, and turn the heat down to 68 and wear clothes and warm pajamas and use blankets at night,” one comment advised.
On TikTok, user MamaSelena shared that her January electric bill in Ohio was $1,013, cutting into her grocery budget. She contacted local representatives in hopes they would advocate for lower costs, and encouraged others to do the same.
It is easy to tell people that they should just move to a state where the cost of living is lower. Well, Alabama has a very low cost of living, but even some residents of that state are now facing electricity bills that are close to $1,000…"Alabama Power customer Miessha Reed is one of many customers who has seen a jump in their electric bills. Reed said her monthly bill during last year’s summer months ranged between $300 to $400, but she can’t say the same about her latest power bill. “It did a rapid increase. June was like $674, July was like $777, and I got an August bill for $963,” said Reed."
Soaring heating and cooling costs are one of the primary reasons why power bills are rising so much. In fact, it is being projected that the average U.S. household will spend $995 just on heating their homes this winter…A new report this week estimates that U.S. households could spend an average of $995 on home heating alone from mid-November to March, which is $84 more than they spent last winter. The report is from the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), a policy organization that represents state governments seeking federal funds for low-income home energy programs. It predicts that heating costs will rise by an average of 9.2% over the next three months."
Of course it isn’t just power bills that are going up. Just about everything is steadily becoming more expensive, but the bureaucrats in Washington would like us to believe that the inflation rate is in the low single digits. Give me a break.
If a major conflict with Iran erupts in the Middle East, our power bills will experience another huge spike. On Tuesday night, President Trump issued a very ominous warning to Iran…"The President on Tuesday night said he is considering ordering a second aircraft carrier strike group to position itself outside Iran. US diplomats and Iranian officials met last Friday in Oman to discuss ending the ayatollah’s nuclear program. This is the first time the two countries have engaged diplomatic talks since the 12-day war with Israel in June. ‘Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,’ Trump told Axios."
I have been warning about a final showdown with Iran for a very long time. Once the missiles start flying, nothing will ever be the same again. But for the moment, much of the population continues to believe that everything will work out just fine somehow. There is nothing wrong with being optimistic, but right now our economy is crumbling all around us and there are very dark clouds on the horizon."
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