It’s getting harder to find a job and easier to lose one.

Employers are hiring workers at a steadily lower rate while laying them off at a rising one, according to data from the Chicago Federal Reserve. The unemployment rate has been ticking up, and job growth has been slowing.

This said, our picture of today’s labor market is blurry. With the government shut down since October 1, our best economic data is out of date. But this week brought large layoffs at a long list of major companies. About 14,000 workers were let go from Amazon, 48,000 from UPS, 25,000 from Intel, 15,000 from Microsoft, and 11,00 from Accenture.

And yet, even as corporate America rains pink slips on its workforces, stocks keep hitting record highs.

This disconnect may seem curious. After all, slowing job growth ca

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