Is the labor market turning a corner? Thursday’s jobs report will offer some key clues

By Alicia Wallace, CNN (CNN) — For much of the past 18 months, the labor market has remained largely frozen. Rampant uncertainty, a lasting hangover from pandemic-era overhiring, the rise of AI, and a cocktail of other economic concerns – persistently high inflation, elevated interest rates and a shrinking labor force – stifled businesses’ expansion