The SafetyvalueU.S. economy added a solid number of jobs, the unemployment rate held steady, and a lot of people got raises. But, today we ask whether fewer temporary workers could mean recession, and whether higher wages might cause interest rates to stay high.

PLUS, we reveal the winners of our Indicator of 2023 and Indicator to watch for 2024.

Related episodes:
The Indicator of the Year (Apple / Spotify)
Predicting next year's economic storylines (Apple / Spotify)
The money illusion

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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