Unprecedented ‘Jobless Boom’ Tests Limits of US GDP Expansion

The US economy is creating plenty of wealth. It’s just not creating many jobs.

Forecasters expect Friday’s report on gross domestic product to show the economy expanded 2.7% in 2025, a solid pace by any standard for a developed country. But employment barely grew, and the combination is drawing comparisons to the infamous “jobless recovery” of the early 2000s that followed the tech bubble and collapse.

There’s one major difference between then and now that makes the current divergence all the more unusual: The 2000s episode kicked off with a recession. This time, the “jobless boom” is happening ...