Rising costs and tight budgets strain Americans ahead of midterm elections

Stacy Eichel, an empty nester in Florida, spent years balancing two jobs. One was in healthcare; the other was her own venture: a small business making custom-branded merchandise for corporate clients, such as coffee mugs and T-shirts that companies hand out at conferences and holiday parties.For Eichel, the business was more than a paycheque. It was a side hustle for a woman who couldn’t sit still, who was always hungry for the next opportunity. It was the kind of business that thrived when companies had a little extra to spend on small branded trinkets to make an otherwise mundane corporate conference something memorable.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Bombardier looks to hire 500 new workers in US, despite Trump threatlist 2 of 4How Canadians are bracing for the impact of Trump’s trade warlist 3 of 4US adds just 29,000 jobs as unemployment rises before midterm electionslist 4 of 4‘Indentured servants’: US green card move will hit thousands of IT workersend of listIn September 2025, Eichel lost her job in marketing for a healthcare company after a merger. Suddenly, the business she had run on the side had to shoulder more of the burden of supporting her. Yet just as...