Retailers including Walmart have reported that some shoppers are beginning to curtail spending. Over the past week, business leaders have laid out in the starkest terms yet that a period of universal strength in the U.S. economy has given way to a muddled outlook in which a labor shortage, soaring stock markets and a healthy consumer are no longer givens. Technology companies from Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. to Uber Technologies Inc. have sharply slowed hiring in recent weeks, and Elon Musk told staff at Tesla Inc. that he plans to cut 10% of its salaried jobs.