NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money, I'm Whalen Wong.

And it is Jobs Friday.

New employment numbers are out today, and the US economy added 372,000 jobs in June,

significantly more than expected.

The unemployment rate is 3.6% holding study from May.

Now, in other months, this might be cause for the Jobs Friday air horn.

But things don't feel so great in other parts of the economy.

Inflation is still high, which is prompting the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates,

which is raising fears that a recession could be on the way.

It's an anxious time, especially for people who haven't been through an economic downturn

as working adults.

People like Jade Walters, who is 22 years old and graduated from Howard University last

year.

This is just so interesting for me, because the new adult that this is all the things

that I'm dealing with, and I'm confused too, and I'm still learning alongside everyone

else.

Jade is a Gen Z career coach.

She shares advice with 29,000 followers on TikTok.

Her generation is entering the workforce just as the recession talk is ramping up, and

there's good reason for Jade and her peers to be worried.

The generation before theirs still bears the scars of the last big downturn.

...