I blame tight money policies designed to slow the economy to prevent inflation, plus, more recently, a whole bunch of bad non-monetary (trade and fiscal) policy

I blame tight money policies designed to slow the economy to prevent inflation, plus, more recently, a whole bunch of bad non-monetary (trade and fiscal) policy from the administration that has led us to the point where we are probably nearing the end of the first quarter of a major recession. But, yeah, for Gen Z its “worthless degrees” and for older people in tech its “AI”, and for every other group there is some other micro-explanation, and the huge macro-facts that we know from historical experience drive (un)employment are mysteriously not having their normal effects.