By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

Doing something romantic for Valentine’s Day does not need to involve a heart-shaped box of chocolates, roses or an atypically expensive dinner, according to relationship experts.

In fact, therapists encourage couples craving intimacy and a deeper connection to focus less on grand gestures and more on expressing love with mundane acts that recognize what matters to their partner.

Romance is not one size fits all. For some people, it means holding hands, opening a car door or drawing a bath for their lover. Others respond to receiving a hilarious text, coffee in bed or an offer to run a nagging errand. Either way, demonstrating kindness and care in small ways over time helps to support relationships as they evolve, says Traci Lee, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Dallas.

“The more that early on, you as a couple are able to establish good habits of whatever romance is going to look like for you, the better it is,” Lee said.

Couples counselors and people in relationships share ideas for showing a romantic partner love throughout the year:

Romance is constantly evolving

Early in a relationship, it doesn’t take much to show romantic intentions, but that changes as couples learn more about each other as individuals, discover what their partner needs for emotional and physical well-being, and experience life together.

“Depending on what stage of the relationship you’re in, romance can mean different things,” Lee said. For example, couples with parenting and caregiving responsibilities have less time to devote to each other than they did during the honeymoon phases right after they started dating or got married.

Gabrielle Gambrell, who lives in New York with her husband of seven years and their two children, thinks romance “should be an evolution” and therefore takes work. One piece of advice she received before getting married stuck with her: Never stop dating.

“You keep romance alive by continuously dating,” Gambrell said. “No matter how busy or what happens in the world, me and my husband have a mandatory date night. And every single date night, we leave the date energized and happy and grateful, and reminded what means the most to us.”

Taking the pressure off Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day carries a heavy burden of social pressures, fantasies from movies and books, and individual desires and expectations that often go unexpressed. All can be managed with planning and communication, experts say.

“Some people will say, ‘If I have to tell my partner what to do, then it won’t be romantic.’ But I have to remind people that their partner is not a mind reader,” Lee said. “I try to blow up the myth that romance can only happen if it’s created spontaneously out of thin air.”

Gambrell, who describes herself as a planner by nature, says she typically starts asking her husband questions about their plans for Feb. 14 days before. Making assumptions about the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day and comparisons with other couple’s relationships are likely to lead to disappointment, she said.

“Love is not perfect. Romance is not perfect. Relationships, there’s nothing perfect about them, but they are beautiful,” she said.

Clarence Smith IV, a 29-year-old middle school teacher and video content creator in Phoenix, remains a big believer in using traditional acts of chivalry to communicate respect and care for his girlfriend, such as positioning himself closer to the curb when they are walking together on a street.

“Romance today involves more seen gestures – let this be seen, let this be shown, let this be big,” Smith said, adding that in his dating experience some people see his gentlemanly behavior as old-fashioned. “I do little things like that, and they’re looked at as superbly impactful. We don’t do this anymore. But to me, baby, this is basics.”

Express love beyond February

While some relationship experts recommend establishing traditions around meaningful holidays, anniversaries and birthdays, others say that creating rituals to mark new seasons or weekends are equally valuable as part of the foundation for merging lifestyles and routines.

Lee says she often explains to her clients a popular analogy in the counseling industry: If you get in a fight with your partner and apologize with a dozen roses, that would be great, but bringing one rose every day for 12 days would communicate consistency and dedication.

She asks patients, “What are some small things that you can do that are going to be a way for you to show up for your partner in the way that they need it?”

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Gambrell says gift-giving is the way she prefers to receive and show love. As a result, it touches her deeply and comes across as a romantic gesture when her husband buys her a scratch-off lottery ticket or stationery item, like a pen or notebook, at the store.

“It’s knowing that you’re thinking about me, that I’m on your mind, that you stop what you’re doing to think of me,” she said.

Smith encourages people to not be afraid of expressing love regardless of how experienced a dating life or how long a relationship they have.

“Do not be afraid to love in your own way,” he said. “It’s always worth it. You always win in the end.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s 10-year outlook projects worsening long-term federal deficits and rising debt, driven largely by increased spending, notably on Social Security, Medicare, and debt service payments.

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Compared with the CBO’s analysis this time last year, the fiscal outlook has deteriorated modestly.

Major developments over the last year are factored into the latest report, released Wednesday, including Republicans’ tax and spending measure known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” higher tariffs, and the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, which includes deporting millions of immigrants from mainland U.S.

As a result of these changes, the projected 2026 deficit is about $100 billion higher, and total deficits from 2026 to 2035 are $1.4 trillion larger, while debt held by the public is projected to rise from 101% of GDP to 120% — exceeding historical highs.

Notably, the CBO says higher tariffs partially offset some of those increases by raising federal revenue by $3 trillion, but that also comes with higher inflation from 2026 to 2029.

Rising debt and debt service is important because repaying investors for borrowed money crowds out government spending on basic needs such as roads, infrastructure and education, which enable investments in future economic growth.

Congressional Budget Office projections also indicate that inflation doesn’t hit the Federal Reserve’ s 2% target rate until 2030.

Jonathan Burks, executive vice president of economic and health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center said “large deficits are unprecedented for a growing, peacetime economy” though “the good news is there is still time for policymakers to correct course.”

“We encourage lawmakers to work together to explore options for raising revenue, trimming spending, and slowing the growth of the major cost drivers,” Burks said, “Congress and the administration should seize the opportunity to act now before the available menu of choices becomes much more painful.”

Lawmakers have recently addressed rising federal debt and deficits primarily through targeted spending caps and debt limit suspensions, as well as deploying “extraordinary measures” when the U.S. is close to hitting its statutory spending limit, though these measures have often been accompanied by new, large-scale spending or tax policies that maintain high deficit levels.

And President Donald Trump at the start of his second term deployed a Department of Government Efficiency, which set a goal to balance the budget by cutting $2 trillion in waste, fraud and abuse, however, budget analysts estimate that DOGE cut anywhere between $1.4 billion to $7 billion, largely through workforce firings.

Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peterson Foundation said the CBO’s latest budget projection “is an urgent warning to our leaders about America’s costly fiscal path.”

“This election year, voters understand the connection between rising debt and their personal economic condition. And the financial markets are watching. Stabilizing our debt is an essential part of improving affordability, and must be a core component of the 2026 campaign conversation.”

Tenants can air their grievances at a series of events in every borough, where Mamdani administration officials say they’ll use what they hear to shape policies to protect renters. Registration is first-come, first-serve.

Mamdani with Dina Levy, his new housing commissioner, first announcing the renter-focused hearings last month. (Ed Reed, Mayoral Photography Office)

If you’re a renter with a complaint, the city wants to hear from you.

The Mamdani administration released details Tuesday for its upcoming “Rental Ripoff” hearings—events in every borough where tenants can share their experiences with city housing officials, who will use what they hear to shape policies to protect renters.

“You can’t fight for tenants without listening to them first,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement about the series, which will kick off Feb. 26 in Downtown Brooklyn and conclude on Staten Island’s North Shore on April 7. Additional hearings will be held in Long Island City on March 5, Fordham on March 11 and East Harlem on March 28.

Unlike hearings where all speakers stand up to testify briefly at a single microphone, the events will be set up more like a resource fair where attendees can record their testimony or sign up for one-on-one conversations with city officials. Capacity is limited, so participants must “pre-register” ahead of time for one of several time slots, and actual admission will be first-come, first-serve, a mayoral spokesperson said.

“We may not be able to accommodate everyone who pre-registers,” a message on the city’s registration website notes. Those unable to attend in person can email their testimony here.

The hearings will include staff from the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the Department of Buildings, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

Officials say they’re looking to hear about “challenges ranging from mold, broken appliances and unsafe construction conditions to hidden fees and surprise charges.” The administration will publish a report three months after the last hearing “with recommendations for policy changes and action plans based on testimony.”

The administration’s flyer advertising the upcoming
hearings. (City Hall)

Mamdani first announced the events during his first few days in office, after running for election on a tenant-focused campaign where he pledged to freeze rents in stabilized units and to crackdown on unscrupulous property owners. Renters account for 69 percent of the city’s households, with roughly half living in rent-regulated apartments, according to a 2024 report from the comptroller’s office.

Still, the hearings rankled some landlord organizations, who criticized the administration’s flyer advertising the series as pitting tenants against building owners.

Real estate groups have fiercely opposed Mamdani’s rent freeze plan—and donated heavily against him during the election—saying it will make it harder for owners of rent-stabilized apartments to keep up with operating costs and make repairs.

“Framing his ‘rental ripoff’ hearings as a prize fight between tenants vs. landlords makes it disturbingly clear that this new Mayor’s housing policies are going to be driven by marquee-like politics, circus-like slogans, and us-versus-them divisiveness,” said Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY), said in a statement Tuesday.

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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By PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added a surprisingly strong 130,000 jobs last month, but government revisions cut 2024-2025 U.S. payrolls by hundreds of thousands.

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The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The report included major revisions that reduced the number of jobs created last year to just 181,000, weakest since the pandemic year of 2020, and less than half the previously reported 584,000.

The job market has been sluggish for months even though the economy is registering solid growth.

But the January numbers came in stronger than the 75,000 economists had expected. Healthcare accounted for nearly 82,000, or more than 60%, of last month’s new jobs. Factories added 5,000, snapping a streak of 13 straight months of job losses. The federal government shed 34,000 jobs.

Average hourly wages rose a solid 0.4% from December to January.

The unemployment rate fell from 4.4% in December as the number of employed Americans rose and the number of unemployed fell.

Weak hiring over the past year reflects the lingering impact of high interest rates, billionaire Elon Musk’s purge last year of the federal workforce and uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies, which have left businesses unsure about hiring.

Dreary numbers have been coming in ahead of Wednesday’s report. Employers posted just 6.5 million job openings in December, fewest in more than five years.

Payroll processor ADP reported last week that private employers added 22,000 jobs in January, far fewer than economists had forecast. And the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that companies slashed more than 108,000 jobs last month, the most since October and the worst January for job cuts since 2009.

Several well-known companies announced layoffs last month. UPS is cutting 30,000 jobs. Chemicals giant Dow, shifting to more automation and artificial intelligence, is cutting 4,500 jobs. And Amazon is slashing 16,000 corporate jobs, its second round of mass layoffs in three months.

The sluggish job market doesn’t match the economy’s performance.

From July to September, America’s gross domestic product – its output of goods and services – galloped ahead at a 4.4% annual pace, fastest in two years. Consumer spending was strong, and growth got a boost from rising exports and tumbling imports. And that came on top of solid 3.8% growth from April through June.

Economists are puzzling out whether job creation will eventually accelerate to catch up to strong growth, perhaps as President Donald Trump’s tax cuts translate into big tax refunds that consumers start spending this year. But there are other possibilities. GDP growth could slow and fall into line with a weak labor market or advances in AI and automation could mean that the economy can roar ahead without creating many jobs.

Wednesday’s report included the government’s annual benchmark revisions, meant to take into account the more-accurate jobs numbers that employers report to state unemployment agencies. They cut 898,000 jobs from payrolls in the year ending March 2025.

Despite recent high-profile layoffs, the unemployment rate has looked better than the hiring numbers.

That is partly because President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has reduced the number of foreign-born people competing for work.

As a result, the number of new jobs that the economy needs to create to keep the unemployment rate from rising – the “break-even’’ point — has tumbled. In 2023, when immigrants were pouring into the United States, it reached a high of 250,000, according to economist Anton Cheremukhin of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. By mid-2025, Cheremukhin found, it was down to 30,000. Researchers at the Brookings Institution believe it could now be as low as 20,000 and headed lower.

The combination of weak hiring but low unemployment means that most American workers are enjoying job security. But those who are looking for jobs – especially young people who can be competing at the entry level with AI and automation – often struggle to land one.