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Google search data show the two companies rank No. 1 in roughly nine out of 10 states

• Walmart and Amazon dominate: The two companies rank as the most-searched employer for careers in 46 of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C.

• Hometown companies can still win: H-E-B tops Texas, while Nike, Target, and Alaska Airlines lead in their home states, according to the rankings.

• Searches don't equal job applicants: The study measured Google searches for "[Company] Careers," meaning the numbers don't show how many individual people actually applied for jobs.

If you're looking for a new job, there's a good chance Walmart or Amazon is somewhere on your radar.

New Google search data show just how thoroughly the two corporate giants dominate Americans' searches for potential employers.

Researchers at Hirocom analyzed average monthly Google searches for "[Company] Careers" for 187 major U.S. employers from September 2025 through August 2026.

Walmart ranked No. 1 for career-related searches in 33 states, while Amazon took the top spot in 13 states.

Combined, the two companies finished first in 46 of the 50 states plus Washington, D.C. roughly nine out of 10.

In Alabama, for example, "Walmart Careers" averaged 27,100 monthly searches compared with 18,100 for Amazon. In New York, the positions were reversed, with Amazon averaging 33,100 searches compared with Walmart's 27,100.

But the states where neither company finished first might be the most interesting.

Hometown favorites beat the giants

In Texas, H-E-B blew past both Walmart and Amazon. "H-E-B Careers" averaged 246,000 monthly searches, compared with 165,000 for Walmart and 135,000 for Amazon. FedEx and Target rounded out the state's top five.

The only other states where an employer different than Walmart or Amazon ranked first were:

• Alaska: Alaska Airlines, with 880 average monthly searches, although Walmart also recorded 880.

• Minnesota: Hometown favorite Target took the top spot.

• Oregon: Nike, with 5,400 monthly searches, tied in search volume with Walmart.

• Washington: Google and Microsoft recorded the highest search volume.

The results show that major regional and hometown employers can still compete with retail giants like Walmart and Amazon.

Other regional names also cracked the top five without taking the No. 1 spot. Fidelity Investments was second in New Hampshire, Duke Energy ranked fourth in North Carolina, and Delta Air Lines was fifth in New York.

What the numbers don't tell us

There's an important catch with the rankings. The researchers used Google Keyword Planner to measure average monthly searches for the phrase "[Company] Careers."

That doesnt mean 246,000 different Texans searched for H-E-B jobs. The same person could search multiple times, and someone searching from one state could be interested in a job located somewhere else.

So the results shouldn't be interpreted as a ranking of where Americans most want to work or how many people actually applied for jobs at each company.

Instead, they're a snapshot of which major employers are generating the most career-related Google search activity. And on that measure, Walmart and Amazon are difficult to escape.

Monster says fewer than 3% of seasonal openings advertise themselves that way and September is when hiring starts taking off

• Holiday hiring starts earlier than many job seekers think: Monster found seasonal posting activity jumped 44% from August to September last year.

• Searching only for "seasonal jobs" could cause you to miss openings: Fewer than 3% of seasonal postings identified by Monster used words such as "seasonal," "holiday," or "temporary" in the job title.

• Don't wait until November: Seasonal posting activity peaked in October in both 2024 and 2025 before falling about 24% the following month.

If you're hoping to earn some extra money during the holidays, searching for "seasonal jobs" might be one of the worst ways to find one.

And waiting until November could be another mistake.

Monster's new Seasonal Hiring Index analyzed seasonal job-posting activity from August through December in 2024 and 2025 and found employers start ramping up much earlier than many job seekers might expect.

In 2025, seasonal posting activity jumped 44% from August to September. Even after removing delivery and driving jobs, which can significantly influence holiday hiring numbers, postings increased 31%.

October was the busiest month in both years analyzed.

Then opportunities started disappearing. Monster found seasonal posting activity fell 24.3% from October to November 2024 and 24% during the same period in 2025.

For anyone hoping to land a holiday job this year, the message is pretty clear: September isn't too early to start looking.

Surprisingly, don't search for 'seasonal jobs'

Perhaps the most useful finding from Monster's research has nothing to do with when you search, but what you actually type into the search box.

Fewer than 3% of postings Monster identified as seasonal in any month during 2025 actually included words such as "seasonal," "holiday," "temporary," "summer," "winter," or "Christmas" in the job title.

In other words, if you search exclusively for "seasonal jobs," it could cause you to overlook a lot of them. Instead, Monster recommends searching for specific positions that interest you.

Among the job titles that showed seasonal hiring patterns were:

• Delivery driver

• Retail sales associate

• Cashier

• Package handler

• Retail stocker

• Store associate

• Stock associate

• Beauty advisor

• Tax associate and tax expert

• Intern and sales intern

The nice takeaway here is that it also means holiday opportunities aren't limited to working a cash register at your local shopping mall. Monster found seasonal patterns across transportation and logistics, retail, tax and accounting, internships, and other fields.

Search earlier (like right now) and search wider

Its also smart for job seekers to use the data to change how they hunt for seasonal work right now.

Start by searching for the actual job you want rather than the word "seasonal." If you want warehouse work, for example, try searches for "package handler," "warehouse associate," or "stocker."

Then broaden the search beyond just retailers.Delivery companies, warehouses, restaurants, hotels, and customer-service operations can all need additional workers as the holidays approach. Tax-related employers can also begin staffing ahead of the upcoming filing season.

And definitely don't assume you should wait until stores put up their Christmas decorations to start applying. In both years Monster studied, nearly half of seasonal posting activity occurring from August through December happened during September and October.

There's one caveat to the numbers: Monster's data measures job-posting activity, not the number of people actually hired or necessarily the number of unique open positions.

But for job seekers, the timing still provides a useful clue. If you're hoping for a seasonal paycheck this year, start searching now and definitely leave the word "seasonal" out of the search box.

Nearly half of parents say they've already delayed or skipped signing up a child because they couldn't afford it

• Youth sports are pricing families out: 44% of parents say they've delayed or skipped enrolling a child in sports because of the cost, according to a new survey.

• Costs are climbing fast: The average sports family spent $1,016 on a child's primary sport in 2024, up 46% from 2019.

• There are ways to cut the cost: Before going into debt for sports, look for cheaper leagues, used equipment, financial assistance, and expenses your child may not actually need.

With three kids who grew up playing sports, my wife and I wrote plenty of checks over the years. We learned pretty quickly that the registration fee was rarely the final expense.

Uniforms, equipment, tournaments, hotels, gas, and private lessons can quickly turn youth sports into a major household expense. And for many parents, it's becoming too much.

A new Accredited Debt Relief survey of 2,000 U.S. parents of children ages 5 to 17 found that 44% have delayed or completely skipped enrolling a child in sports because they couldn't afford registration fees, equipment, uniforms, or travel. Another 43% worry they may have to make that decision during the current school year.

Separate research from the Aspen Institute's Project Play shows just how quickly costs have climbed. The average sports family spent $1,016 on a child's primary sport in 2024, up 46% from 2019. Add other sports, and the average approached $1,500 for one child.

Here are five ways to keep your kid playing without putting the season on a credit card.

1. Get the real price before signing up

A $150 registration fee doesn't necessarily mean it's a $150 season.

Before committing, ask for an estimate of the total cost, including uniforms, equipment, tournaments, travel, hotels, admission fees, and fundraising requirements.

Then compare it with city recreation programs, school teams, YMCA leagues, and other community options.

Aspen found that despite the growth of travel sports and private coaching, most young athletes still play through school or local community programs, which tend to be much more affordable.

Pro tip: Get the best price estimate by asking parents whose kids played on the team last year what they actually spent. They may know about the sneaky costs that aren't obvious on the registration page.

2. Don't be embarrassed to ask for financial help

Before telling your child you can't afford a sport, ask the organization whether it offers scholarships, reduced fees, or payment plans.

Some programs may also offer discounts or other benefits to parents who coach, referee, work concessions, or volunteer in other ways.

Also, be sure to ask early. Financial assistance can be limited and may disappear before the season begins.

Pro tip: Check national assistance programs, too. EveryKidSports.org offers qualifying families up to $150 per child per season to help cover recreational sports registration fees. Families generally qualify if their child is enrolled in Medicaid, SNAP, or WIC.

3. Stop buying every piece of equipment new

Kids have an annoying habit of growing.

That expensive baseball bat, glove, or pair of soccer cleats may no longer fit their needs next season.

Check used sporting-goods stores, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, neighborhood groups, and team equipment swaps before buying new.

Also ask the coach what your child actually needs. There's a big difference between necessary equipment and the newest gear everyone else happens to be carrying.

Pro tip: Its smart to consider selling the outgrown equipment you already have while it still has value. Then put the money you make directly towards the next season.

4. Question the expensive extras

Private coaching, specialized camps, extra tournaments that require hotel stays, and year-round training can make parents feel like they're hurting their child's chances if they say no.

But they're also some of the easiest costs to control.

Aspen's research found 17% of youth sports parents said their child's primary sport involved travel or club leagues, while 14% reported independent training.

Before paying for either, ask the coach what your child genuinely needs to continue improving.

And don't automatically assume an expensive travel team is necessary for an 8-year-old who mainly wants to play baseball with friends.

5. Don't finance a season you can't afford

Putting $2,000 in sports expenses on a credit card can make an already expensive activity considerably more expensive if you carry the balance.

Buy now, pay later can create a similar problem by making a large expense feel manageable simply because it's broken into smaller payments.

Instead, estimate your family's annual sports spending and divide it by 12. Put that amount into a dedicated savings account each month.

If the numbers still don't work, set a sports budget and stick to it.

Don't let guilt wreck your budget

This may be the hardest part. Parents naturally want to give their kids every opportunity, particularly when teammates are traveling to tournaments, buying expensive equipment, or taking private lessons.

But spending more doesn't necessarily mean you're supporting your child more.

A cheaper league, used equipment, fewer tournaments, or saying no to private coaching may be what keeps sports affordable enough for your child to continue playing.

And sometimes the financially responsible answer to an unnecessary splurge is simply saying no.

While that's obviously a difficult conversation to have with your kid, it's still better than paying for this year's soccer season long after next year's has started.

New research finds signs of future disease in children as young as 8

• Researchers identified blood-protein patterns linked to cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic disease risk in children.

• The study found similar protein patterns in adults with higher risks of these diseases.

• The findings could eventually help doctors identify risk earlier, when prevention may have more time to work.

Heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and obesity are often thought of as adult health concerns. But new research suggests some of the biological changes linked to these conditions may begin much earlier potentially during childhood.

In a study published in Nature Metabolism, researchers from UTHealth Houston and other institutions looked for biological clues that could signal cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease (CKMD) risk in children. CKMD refers to a group of conditions involving the heart, kidneys, and metabolism.

The researchers found that certain patterns in children's blood proteins were associated with traits linked to CKMD. Importantly, the findings don't mean that children with these protein patterns will definitely develop disease. Instead, they may provide clues about who could face greater risk later in life.

Understanding the development of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic disease across the lifecourse is critical, researcher Heather Highland, Ph.D., said in a news release.

Proteins circulating in the blood can serve as markers of nascent pathologies across the body. These early markers can help identify people at greater risk for increased monitoring and potentially early intervention.

How researchers studied the children

The study included 273 Hispanic or Latino children and adolescents from the Border Health Research Cohort in Cameron County, Texas. Their average age was about 13, with participants ranging from childhood through adolescence.

Researchers examined 5,000 proteins circulating in the children's blood and compared those protein levels with 25 different CKMD-related traits. These included measures involving body composition, liver health, kidney function, cholesterol, and blood-sugar regulation.

Using this information, the researchers identified six groups, or "signatures," of proteins associated with multiple CKMD-related traits.

They then looked to see whether the same patterns appeared in adults. The researchers found similar relationships in adults from the same community and in 28,256 adults participating in the U.K. Biobank.

What the findings could mean for families

The results suggest that some biological signs associated with cardiometabolic disease may be detectable years before someone develops obvious disease. That's potentially important because identifying risk earlier could give doctors more time to monitor and address it.

The researchers also compared their findings with data from a clinical trial involving the GLP-1 drug semaglutide. Many of the proteins associated with higher CKMD risk changed in adults taking GLP-1 medication, suggesting these biological markers may be modifiable rather than permanent.

This association is really one of the most exciting messages, because those proteins that predict the risk of cardiometabolic diseases all moved in a healthy direction after these adults took GLP-1. This makes this a modifiable risk state rather than a fixed marker of fate, said corresponding author Kari North, PhD. Childhood is the time that we really need to start intervening because its reversible.

Still, this doesn't mean parents should expect this type of protein testing during a child's routine checkup. Many of the tests used in the study aren't part of standard pediatric visits. More research is needed to determine how these findings could eventually be used in everyday medical care.

For now, the study offers a closer look at how the roots of conditions affecting adult health may begin much earlier than previously recognized.

The dysregulation of the proteins that influence risk of heart attack later in life, if we can reverse them in childhood, then we can really make a huge dent in the cardiovascular disease burden that we see in adult populations around the world today, Dr. North said. "We need to do better screening in children, and if we see children who are at an elevated risk, the time to act is now.

New research finds that changes in breast fat cells may affect how the body fights cancer

• Researchers identified a fatty acid that may help the body destroy damaged or cancerous breast cells.

• Fat cells in lean breast tissue produced more of this fatty acid than fat cells in obese tissue.

• The discovery could eventually lead to new approaches for restoring this natural protection, but more research is needed.

Obesity has been linked with breast cancer risk, but researchers are still working to understand exactly why.

Now, scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have identified a potential piece of the puzzle: Obesity may cause the body to lose some of the natural protection that helps eliminate cancerous cells.

The researchers focused on fat cells in breast tissue, which are also known as adipocytes. According to the researchers, these cells can behave differently depending on whether they come from lean or obese tissue.

Their findings suggest that fat cells in lean breast tissue produce higher amounts of a fatty acid called 9S-HODE. This substance appears to help trigger a type of cell death called ferroptosis, which can eliminate damaged or potentially cancerous cells.

We uncovered the role of a molecule that normally appears in lean tissue that restrains breast cancer growth but is less present with obesity, researcher Keren Hilgendorf, Ph.D., Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator, assistant professor of biochemistry at the U, and senior author of the study, said in a news release.

We know obesity is often a driver of breast cancer, and researchers in our field usually consider how obesity is promoting the disease. But we hadnt really considered that obesity could also be the loss of something that naturally protects us.

How the study worked

The researchers used preclinical models to investigate the differences between lean and obese breast tissue. Their work included studying breast tissue from donors as well as mouse models. They compared fat cells from lean and obese tissue and looked at the substances those cells produced.

One important difference was the amount of 9S-HODE produced by the fat cells. The researchers found that lean fat cells produced much more of the fatty acid than obese fat cells.

They then increased the amount of 9S-HODE in obese fat cells in mouse models to see what effect it had on breast cancer growth.

What the results could mean for consumers

The researchers found that increasing 9S-HODE in obese fat cells suppressed breast cancer tumor growth in their mouse models. The findings suggest that when obesity changes breast fat cells, those cells may produce less of a substance that helps cancerous cells die.

That doesn't mean obesity is the only factor involved in breast cancer, or that everyone with obesity will develop the disease. The researchers specifically note that breast cancer can develop for many reasons.

Still, the discovery could point toward a new treatment strategy. Because 9S-HODE is naturally produced by the body, researchers are interested in whether restoring or increasing it could eventually help restore some of the body's natural protection against breast cancer.

For now, however, this remains an early research finding. The researchers describe it as one discovery that could open the door to further studies rather than an available treatment.

We believe this shift in the understanding of the roles of lean and obese adipocytes is the start of something. This is just one discovery, and its not the end of the road, first author Meghan Curtin, doctoral candidate in molecular biology at the U, said in the release.

This opened our eyes to new ways to think about science, and hopefully we can harness what our bodies are already doing to make progress against this disease.