One framing I keep coming back to is this: a tight labor market is not just about unemployment; it is about bargaining power and replacement difficulty. What is happening: Labor data matters because it changes how firms think about hiring, wages and pricing, which then loops back into margins and inflation. Why it matters: That is why the same unemployment rate can feel very different depending on vacancy pressure and labor churn. In practice: If firms cannot replace workers easily, wage sensitivity changes even before headline payrolls fully reflect it. Watch for: The mistake is using one labor headline as a total summary of labor market pressure. Useful lens: A useful review question is which funding, incentive or cash-flow channel is actually doing the work. The point is not to memorize the label. The point is to know what variable is actually doing the work.