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Fortune
Fortune
Eva Roytburg, Nick Lichtenberg

The labor market's holiday present for America: the highest unemployment in 4 years. It might be 'noisy' but the jobs just aren't there

Woman wearing a Santa hat talking with her friend by video call (Credit: Kittikorn Nimitpara—Getty Images)

It was the week before Christmas, and Americans got one more dispiriting look at the job market. 

After a year of stalled hiring and “ghost jobs,” Americans are going back to school, retraining, and trying to get off the sidelines. But they’ve been flying blind after the longest federal government shutdown in history clouded the picture on job growth and unemployment. Finally, the October and November figures confirmed what most of them seem to feel already: The labor market has no room for them.

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