When the economy is uncertain, CEOs often reach for a familiar lever: job cuts. And things are feeling far from certain these days. January layoffs were the biggest for the start of a year since 2009, during the Great Recession, the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported last week. The Labor Department on Friday also announced a surprise drop in employment in February. Everywhere business leaders look, they see question marks: about the economy, tariff policy, congressional