
Friday’s jobs report could show how much US employers will bend before they break
CNN
Economists expect that the May jobs report could point to a softening labor market as hiring continues to slow amid economic uncertainty.
Last June, after almost a full year on the job hunt, Jordan Williams landed a role at a high-growth, United Kingdom-based outdoor apparel brand that was looking to build out its US operations. Passenger Clothing was well positioned for expansion: The company landed orders with REI, Scheels and others; and Williams, a Portland, Oregon-based outdoor industry veteran, was excited for the ride. Until April. “Upon ‘Liberation Day,’” Williams said, nodding to the moniker President Donald Trump assigned to his blowout tariff announcement on April 2, “I was liberated from employment.” Overnight, the US went from being Passenger’s biggest potential growth driver to its biggest existential threat. For every $1 million of recycled fabrics, organic clothing and other products that landed in the US from countries such as India and China, Passenger was responsible for an additional $500,000 of duties, the company said in a mid-April statement announcing the pause of its US operations. Williams officially lost his job on April 11.













