Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 💼 Jobs market update
• 🦧 Ape’s make-believe tea party
• 🌊 Frozen Niagara Falls

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.94-minute read (1,047 words).

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“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

–Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

All three major US stock indexes fell by at least 1% yesterday as an ongoing tech selloff coincided with a series of new reports that show America’s job market is off to a rough start in 2026.

By the numbers

The evidence was laid out in three separate reports:

1. After months of being “little changed,” US job openings fell by 386,000 in December to 6.5 million, suggesting a drop-off in demand for new workers, per the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Overall, the US economy lost ~1 million job openings in 2025.
2. The number of Americans applying for weekly unemployment benefits rose to a two-month high at the end of January, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
3. US employers announced 108,435 layoffs in January—a figure that’s 205% higher than December, 118% more than the year-before period, and the highest figure for any January since 2009, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

It isn’t all bad news. The Bank of America Institute's labor market report, based on its customers' deposit data, showed the number of households receiving unemployment benefits fell in January, while jobs growth rebounded.

And the Institute for Supply Management’s survey of manufacturing—long a reliable economic leading indicator—saw a surprising jump in new orders last month, signaling a surge in US production and sales.

A puzzling economic picture

Overall, the US economy is giving more mixed signals than a group chat trying to pick a dinner spot. Economic growth is strong, with US GDP increasing at the fastest pace in two years per the most recent quarterly data.

• But views on the economy have remained negative in recent months, with Americans citing rising costs and a weakening labor market as their top economic concerns.
• Since December, there have been 0.9 open jobs for every unemployed worker—a big turnaround compared to a recent peak of two open jobs per worker in 2022.

Looking ahead…We’ll have a clearer picture of the US labor market next Wednesday, when the Labor Department publishes the shutdown-delayed January jobs report.

📊 Flash poll: To all our readers in the workforce: How would you rate the current job market in your respective industry?

• Excellent
• Pretty good
• Average
• Pretty bad
• Terrible

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Here are five stats from this past week that made our team go “whoa.” Hopefully you will, too.

🪙📉 Bitcoin’s price continued to sink yesterday, at one point falling to its lowest level since November 2024 (~$62,300). The world’s largest cryptocurrency is down nearly 20% this week alone, and is ~28% lower on the year.

💒 American 12th-grade boys are more likely than girls to want to get married someday (74% vs. 61%)—a reversal from just over three decades ago, when a larger share of girls (83%) than boys (76%) wanted to get married someday.

🏈 The NFL's new touchback rule led to 74.5% of kickoffs being returned this season, up from just 32.8% in 2024.

🤖🇨🇳 54% of Chinese residents said they embrace greater AI use in a recent Edelman survey, compared to just 17% in the US.

🏆 Steven Spielberg became the 22nd person in history to achieve “EGOT” status—winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony—during Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• ⚖️ Brad Karp—leader of Paul Weiss, one of America’s biggest law firms—resigns as chair following new revelations about his association with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
• 💊 Novo Nordisk announces legal action against Hims & Hers after the telehealth provider unveiled plans to launch a cheaper copycat version of Novo’s weight-loss pill Wegovy; shares of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly both fell ~7% after Hims’ announcement.*
• 📦 Amazon reported lower-than-expected earnings and higher revenue for Q4 2025; the company’s stock fell 10+% after-hours.

*Disclaimer: Hims & Hers is a paying sponsor of DONUT Press Media

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏟️ Super Bowl LX: The Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots at 5:30 pm CT this Sunday; Bad Bunny will become the first artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show entirely in Spanish; multiple commercials have been released for early viewing ahead of the big game.
• 🏆 Winter Olympics opening ceremony takes place today starting at 2 pm CT, headlined by Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli.
• 🚨 FBI announces $50,000 reward for any significant leads on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 83-year-old mother of Today co-host Savannah Guthrie, who police believe was kidnapped.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🦧💭 Apes may have the cognitive abilities to pretend and consider multiple realities, according to a new Science study where researchers hosted a make-believe tea party for a bonobo.
• 🌌 The Northern Lights could be potentially be visible in 11 US states tonight due to a barrage of intense solar flares that erupted earlier this week.
• 🐍 Snakes can go without eating for months—or even a whole year—because they’ve lost the gene that normally regulates appetite in animals and signals when it’s time to eat, new study reveals.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

• 🪖 The US and Russia are reportedly close to a deal where both countries would continue to observe the New START arms control treaty beyond its expiration date, which came and went yesterday.
• 🏛️ Trump admin unveils new rule reclassifying senior-level civil servants as at-will employees who can be fired at any time, ending previous job protections; the rule, which takes effect in 30 days, would apply to ~50,000 federal workers.
• 💊 President Trump announces the launch of the TrumpRx gov’t website, which aims to offer discounted drug prices through special agreements with drug companies.

☝️ Visitors are braving sub-zero temps to catch a glimpse of a partially frozen Niagara Falls. The icy scene comes as a surge of Arctic air, linked to disruptions in the polar vortex—a ring of strong winds that typically keeps cold air contained near Earth’s poles—sweeps across the region.

🤔 Did you know? The marathon race was inspired by an Ancient Greek messenger named Pheidippides, who ran ~25 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens in 490 BCE to deliver a victory message, and then promptly died. Pheidippides had also run ~150 miles and fought in the Battle of Marathon days earlier.

📰 Worth a read: What does it really mean to rewire your brain?

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• How to trick your brain into doing something you’re avoiding
• Why Draco Malfoy is now an unlikely new-year mascot in China
• The best airlines for long-haul flights

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💧 Gripping Dripping stuff: Did you know you can watch the world’s longest-running laboratory experiment? Click this link.

📖 Read: Berries are America’s top-selling fruit — and every parent’s grocery bill nightmare.

📝 Keeping up with industry trends is a process. TheFutureParty makes it easier with its daily newsletter. They provide the latest stories and insights to help you understand the future of tech, business, and culture—all in a quick and witty package. Sign up for free!*

*A message from our partners

How well did you pay attention this week? Find out here.

1. A fair coin is flipped three times. What’s the probability of getting three heads in a row?
2. What do you call a polygon with eight sides?
3. You have 5/6 of a yard of ribbon. You use 2/3 of that amount to wrap a gift. How much ribbon was used?

🚣‍♀️ 25-year-old Taryn Smith completed the “world’s hardest row” last month, traveling 3,000 miles solo across the Atlantic Ocean—even though she's not an ultra-endurance athlete or a seasoned sailor.

1. 1 in 8
2. An octagon
3. 5/9 of a yard

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