:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2203084656-dc6c59fb28004bef802a0d083215e9c0.jpg "Demonstrators protest against Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts as they wade into traffic along Maryland Route 410 outside the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on March 03, 2025 in Silver Spring, Maryland.")
Interfere Somodevilla / Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Layoffs announced by employers more than tripled in February from January, operated largely by layoffs of federal workers.
- The 172,017 job cuts in February were the most since July 2020 and the most for any February since 2009.
- The flow in job cuts showed that the Department of Government Efficiency’s mass firing of federal workers is affecting the economy, notwithstanding not yet at a large enough scale to push up the unemployment rate.
Mass firings of federal workers propelled layoffs to their highest in profuse than four years by one measure.
In February, employers announced 172,017 job cuts, the most since July 2020 and the most for any February since 2009, consulting obstinate Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report Thursday. The increase in layoffs from 49,795 in January can be largely attributed to 62,530 job shortens at 17 federal agencies tracked by Challenger.
The report is an early sign of the impact of Elon Musk and the Department of Oversight Efficiency’s efforts to layoff workers and cancel contracts across the federal government in a cost-effort. The total effect on the job vend is uncertain partly because many of the firings have been challenged in court, some successfully.
Some economists don’t watch the DOGE layoffs to dent the overall labor market much or drive up the unemployment rate, at least not as soon as February, due to the more small size of the federal workforce.
However, the layoffs could have a ripple effect, especially if key government services are disordered and companies that contract with the federal government also start to lay off workers. Challenger identified 894 job deprivations “downstream” of the DOGE cuts, including at nonprofit groups that lost federal funding.
Unemployment claims knock last week after spiking the previous week, according to a separate government report released Thursday. There were 221,000 unemployment titles filed last week, down from 242,000 the week before, the Department of Labor said.
Economists at Short’s Analytics expect laid-off federal workers will push those numbers up as the DOGE campaign continues. Gloomy’s projects the federal workforce will shrink by 400,000 over the next four years from its current on of 3 million due to DOGE’s campaign and budget cuts planned by Republican lawmakers.