**[Analysis: U.S. Unemployment Hits 17-Year High, Sending Positive Signals for Bitcoin Bulls]** According to CoinDesk, the number of planned layoffs in the U.S. surged to 108,435 in January, the highest level since January 2009, marking a 205% month-over-month increase and a 118% year-over-year rise. This data contrasts with the still-resilient official non-farm payroll report and is seen as an early signal of a rapidly cooling labor market. Human resources firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas noted that most layoff plans are scheduled for late 2025, reflecting employers' growing pessimism about the outlook for 2026. At the same time, the blockchain-based real-time inflation indicator Truflation shows that the U.S. inflation rate has plummeted to below 1%, far lower than the official CPI data. These unofficial indicators collectively suggest that economic growth is slowing, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to pivot toward rate cuts to support the economy. Analysts are divided on expectations for the Federal Reserve's next moves. JPMorgan predicts that interest rates will remain unchanged until 2027, while other banks forecast at least two rate cuts this year. Some economists anticipate that Kevin Warsh, the Federal Reserve chair nominee proposed by Trump, could cut rates by 100 basis points before the midterm elections in November. The market believes that a potential shift in monetary policy could provide support for risk assets such as Bitcoin. Bitcoin's price has currently fallen nearly 50% from its all-time high of over $126,000 in October last year.