> Due to different hiring practices, Apple did not do massive layoffs.

Right, they outsource the layoffs to Foxconn.

Growth prospects have varied wildly over the last few years. From things like Covid changing the entire consumer and corporate landscape, to inflation and the Federal Reserve whipsawing interest rates around dramatically, there is little way to predict what is going to happen even in the near future.

If you showed their net hiring since Covid, it would be a drastically different story. Most of these companies still have headcount well above their pre-covid levels.

> but rarely is it the first case

I take it you have never been in a rural area in a developing nation.

Much of this growth is going towards basic things we take for granted like indoor plumbing and electricity.

Bonds lost inflation adjusted 20% last year. Stocks lost inflation adjusted 25%. Its a little better, but retirees had few good options.

> Funnily enough, your analogy regarding cash is absolutely wrong in this case. Someone who had their entire 401k moved to cash in 2021 would be doing better than someone who's 401k was mostly stocks.

Not sure how I was wrong when that is what I said :) Sitting in cash and "only" losing the inflation amount was the best investment. Which is still crappy, and only can be a considered "good" in hindsight.

Point being, it made little difference what you were invested in. Bonds got killed in 2022 because rates changed so fast.

But they don't want to lower interest rates, unless they are forced to. So full employment with moderate wage growth / inflation is exactly what they are hoping to achieve.

> shifting the value to more stable, if less growth, forms of investment

That was not really an option when interest rates were at zero. And bonds got hammered in 2022 regardless. Sit in cash while inflation is at 8% was like the "best" horrible investment decision to make for retirees. This was the hangover from the rager party - little you could do to avoid it.

It seems like the labor market is functioning pretty well. Kind of surprising given the scope of fiscal/monetary policy that both Trump and Biden have undertaken in recent years. A pleasant surprise if you will.

I am not trying to attach a political agenda (honestly, not even sure what you are trying to imply).

I know we all love to hate on the Fed and TPTB, but to me this looks suspiciously like a best case soft landing in the US.

Very little unemployment with moderate wage growth. Enough to encourage and reward workers, but not enough to cause runaway inflation.

On the flip side, we finally have sensible interest rates so you have less money going into non-productive things, inflating asset prices, and causing widespread wealth inequality.