National household stability
Should I be worried?
Every Monday, we check jobs and prices where you live and tell you what changed.
Edition · October 26, 2026
Jobs stress level46Normal
U.S.Up 9 points in 4 weeks.
A score from 0 to 100 that FearMetric works out. Higher means more stress.
Explain this to me more
What goes into it
- New unemployment claims
- Company cutbacks reported to the SEC
Sources and methods
Method version v1.
How sure we are: Medium.
What the stress level will cover
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Ability to earn
Jobs, pay, hours and income continuity.
In it now
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Ability to cover essentials
Housing, power, food, debt payments and other bills you can't skip.
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Ability to absorb a setback
Savings, help you can count on, and what could knock you off track.
The numbers we watch each week
Home and essentials
Money and costs
Weekly answers in plain words are coming. For now, the numbers come first.
Find your state or city
What a personal answer adds
The U.S. reading is the same for everyone. Personal will look at your own work, home and bills. It is planned. It isn't open yet.
Why you can trust this
- Before we publish, we match each number to a fresh read of our own data.
- We say so when we can't measure something. How it works
- When we get something wrong, we add a dated correction to the page. Past weeks
Credits this week
- Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), food at home. BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-15.
- Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR filings (Form 8-K, Item 2.05).