Layoffs Hit 2009 Levels While AI Soaks Up Billions!

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Dear Money Master,

Layoffs Surge in January. Companies announced 108,000+ job cuts, the worst start to a year since 2009, while hiring plans fell to a 15-year low. This isn’t panic, it’s preparation. Think companies quietly tightening the belt before the economy slows.

AWS profits keep increasing. Amazon’s cloud business pulled in $35.5B in revenue and $12.5B in operating profit, with massive 35% margins. At the same time, Amazon plans to spend $200B expanding AI infrastructure next year. Cerebras & Benchmark Bet Big on AI, raising $1B at a $23B valuation as capital floods into faster, larger AI chips. Hot take: fewer humans, more machines. Payrolls shrink while servers multiply.

📰 Your Daily Financial Digest - February 9th, 2026

🌍 Economics, Finance & Retail:

The Labor Market: “No Fire, No Hire” Just Turned Into “Actually… Fire”💼⚠️- Read More

Remember when everyone said the job market was “frozen but stable”? January 2026 just threw that idea out the window. U.S. companies announced 108,435 layoffs, the worst start to the year since 2009. Hiring intentions? Barely 5,300, the lowest January since the global financial crisis.

Think of a company like a household budget. When income looks uncertain, you don’t renovate your kitchen or hire a gardener. You cut Netflix, skip the weekend getaway, and tell the kids to turn off the lights. Layoffs are the corporate equivalent: trimming costs before revenue drops.

This isn’t panic, it’s strategic pessimism. Many of these layoffs were planned at the end of 2025, signaling companies aren’t optimistic about 2026. Some high-profile names like Amazon and UPS are leading the charge. Transportation and tech are taking hits first, which makes sense, both sectors rely heavily on discretionary spending and automation.

💻 Technology:

Cerebras & Benchmark: Follow the Smart Money 🤖 - Read More 

While layoffs dominate headlines, investors are quietly throwing money at AI infrastructure. Cerebras, the startup building processors bigger than dinner plates, raised $1B at a $23B valuation, and Benchmark Capital poured $225M into the round.

Why does size matter? Cerebras’ Wafer Scale Engine is nearly an entire silicon wafer with 4 trillion transistors and 900,000 specialized cores. That’s enough to run AI inference tasks 20x faster than traditional GPUs, meaning the company can crunch massive AI workloads without slowing down.

Think of it like replacing a fleet of sedans with a supersonic jet. Both get you to the destination, but one does it exponentially faster, and investors are betting on speed. While workers are being cut, machines are collecting the capital, a stark illustration of where money flows in the AI era.

💹Earnings:

Amazon’s AWS: Fewer Humans, More Machines!🤖💰- Read More

Amazon’s cloud business, AWS, just reminded the world why Wall Street keeps watching Jeff Bezos’ playground. AWS revenue hit $35.58B in Q4, operating profit reached $12.47B, and the operating margin widened slightly to 35%. That’s money in the bank, literally.

Let’s demystify: operating profit is what a business actually earns after paying for the costs of running it, before taxes and interest. For AWS, this means for every $1 they make, they pocket 35 cents. That’s an absurdly healthy margin for a business of its size.

But here’s the twist: while AWS is printing money, Amazon is cutting jobs and planning $200B in capital spending, mostly on servers and AI infrastructure. Picture it like swapping team members for robots who never sleep. Less payroll, more machines. For investors, this is pure efficiency. For employees… well, it’s more complicated.

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DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The publisher does not accept any responsibility for any losses incurred as a result of actions taken based on the information provided. Always conduct your own research or consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.