Just 44% of employees feel confident about the next six months at their company, a Glassdoor survey found — the lowest in nine years. Thank government layoffs, tariff uncertainty and a toughening job market. Are these negative predictions warnings of a coming recession? Also in this episode, the overall cost of food at home was flat in February, electric grid battery storage grew 66% in the U.S. last year, and Angelenos worry dumped wildfire debris could be toxic.

Back in 2018 — the last time President Donald Trump led a trade war — some businesses got tariff exemptions if they imported goods that couldn’t be sourced in the U.S. Was the process to apply smooth and transparent? Well … no. Will today’s businesses have the same opportunity? That remains to be seen. Also in this episode: Home improvement stores launch AI helper bots, corporate forecasts aim low, and small businesses hesitate to hire.

Terri Bromberg lost her home of 20 years in the Los Angeles fires. Rather than rebuild, the artist and professor chose to sell and move elsewhere. Prospective buyers put in bids without being able to see the plot of land in person. In this episode, Bromberg and her real estate agent tell us about the process of selling in the Pacific Palisades since the wildfires. Plus: China announces retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. agricultural products, Americans lose confidence in their financial futures, and why Tesla’s stock price has slumped.

Overall employment dropped last month, according to the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, employers added jobs to the economy. Weird, right? Well, two surveys make up the monthly report — one of households and one of employers. And they can disagree. Plus, more part-time workers want full-time jobs, Gap is on a roll, and professional basketball has become a game regulations.

Ask an economist what’s driving decision-making right now, and the answer may well be “uncertainty.” In this episode, the unpredictable environment fuels a range of change: The labor market softens, surveys of the service sector point in opposite directions and Treasury yields sink. Plus, the Commerce Department just dissolved two expert advisory groups, putting the trustworthiness of future federal data into question.

They’re here: President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico begin today, as well as an additional 10% tax on goods from China. In this episode, we hear from business owners who are caught in the middle of trade policy chaos and explain why Texas is likely to suffer in particular. Plus, Forest Service layoffs devastate rural western mountain towns, and small warehouses are in demand but hard to come by.

As bird flu proliferates across U.S. farms, infecting chickens, cows and even humans, some public health experts worry that that funding to deal with it has been inadequate. Above all, they say we need stronger incentives for farmers and farmworkers to test for and report cases of the virus. Plus, the manufacturing sector’s outlook remains mixed, two-thirds of Americans say they have been victims of a financial scam and what could happen if we removed government spending from GDP calculations.

In the past decade, filming outside of Los Angeles has become a cost-effective option for many major studios. And lower housing costs are driving many lighting techs, grips and gaffers to follow. With roughly 13,000 homes lost in January’s wildfires, staying in LA will be even harder for those workers. Also on the show, the rising cost of utilities and a second act for frozen foods.

Capital goods orders picked up in January — that’s stuff businesses buy that’ll last a while, like tools and equipment. Is it a sign business owners have money to spend? Or, have tariffs fears and economic uncertainty spooked them into buying things before it’s too late? Also in this episode: Unemployment claims tick up (and that’s not even counting laid-off federal workers), architects stress fire resilience in rebuilding and used car prices rise.

The second Trump administration has made spending cuts a priority  — already, the president has enacted a funding freeze and laid off thousands of federal workers. Reduced government spending will have major ripple effects, though, like shrinking the nation’s GDP. Also in this episode: Trump’s move toward Russia threatens longstanding relationships with European allies and Instacart forecasts a growth slowdown.