How hard has the brakes been slammed on the U.S. job market? Just look at these numbers and you’ll understand.

So far this year, U.S. companies have posted a total of 497,151 job openings. What does that mean? It’s the lowest point since 2010—back then, only 392,033 jobs were posted in the first 11 months. To make it worse, it's a direct 35% plunge from the 761,954 jobs posted during the same period last year.

The hiring freeze has lasted for five consecutive years. November was even more dramatic: only 9,074 job postings nationwide, the second lowest for that month since 2016.

Normally, companies would be scrambling for seasonal hires around this time of year. But this year, it’s completely dead. Planned hiring numbers dropped to 372,520, the lowest since statistics began in 2012. November? Flat out zero—not a single hiring announcement.

This isn’t just a slowdown; it’s a deep freeze. The current demand for hiring has reached alarm-bell levels.