The first full week of 2026 has been an odd one. Had America not decided to intervene in Venezuela, financial markets might have drifted quietly into the new year with barely a ripple. Instead, investors have been handed a familiar mix: geopolitics stirring trouble, technology losing its shine at the margin, and policymakers once again threatening to pull the rug from under global trade. Investors were left clinging to one reliable compass: the state of the American labour market.
