How quickly the tables have turned. The masks have gone right back on in many places as the latest coronavirus variant has surged in the United States. Shoppers are fearful again, travelers are staying home — and that means the economy is once more on shaky ground…

This kind of pullback is being repeated across different kinds of businesses in the U.S. economy…

That optimism is now clouded in uncertainty for so many businesses. It’s evident in the spate of decisions at different companies to postpone their back-to-office plans, despite preparations for grand reopenings in September and October. Microsoft last week even stayed away from providing a new date when it postponed its October reopening plans.

All this has resulted in a dramatic slowdown in hiring. After adding around 1 million jobs in both June and July, the U.S. added just 235,000 jobs in August, less than a quarter of each of the previous two months.