Companies already downsizing
With President Obama back in office, analysts fear thousands of small banks will close while other companies say they're scaling back.
Financial experts worry the Dodd-Frank reform, meant to rein in Wall Street, will actually have an adverse effect on small banks.
"They'll just not have the same kind of investment income to go out and develop new products, move into a new market or take risks," says labor expert John Challenger.
And Challenger says that's not all.
"Certain areas of the energy industry, coal for example, has started to announce cuts," he says. "They're concerned that the business environment is not going to be amenable to the kind of growth they have hoped for."
Challenger credits some of the bad news to lower 4th quarter projections.
Meanwhile, other companies say Obamacare will force them to downsize. But Teresa Maher at Jobing.com says a glimmer of hope remains in Houston.
"Job seekers should be looking for those industries that translate across multiple different areas," Maher says. "We're definitely seeing health care and computer sciences coming through as two of the big ones."
Maher insists it is still too early to tell what impact another Obama administration will have on the job market.
