Cnn
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US employers withdrew their hiring plans last month, while federal government layoffs increased at their highest level in more than four years, new labor market data showed on Tuesday.
The latest job offers and the data survey of work survey provided some overviews of how President Donald Trump’s sweeping policies have changed a long -standing employer in the federal government and injecting uncertainty into the broader economy.
The number of employment remedies – a measure of demand from the labor market – fell to 7.57 million in February, according to the JOLTS report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics published on Tuesday. The total of February marks a retirement compared to January, when the number of jobs available increased to 7.76 million to start the year.
Despite the drop in openings, the overall turnover of the labor market remained quite stable in February, because the percentage of hires, layoffs and total employment issues were unchanged. The level of layoffs acquired from January to around 1.79 million, against 1.67 million, according to the report.
Unsurprisingly, the sector which experienced one of the highest increases in layoffs was the federal government, which saw layoffs increase to 22,000 against 4,000 in January, marking the highest monthly total since November 2020.
The Elon Musk government’s Ministry of Effectiveness has taken over federal agencies in recent weeks, quickly reducing jobs and reducing funding and programs.
Economists warned that data from the labor market at the beginning of 2025, which showed slow but solid job gains, was probably “calm before the storm”. Trump’s rapid political actions – including drastic labor reductions within the federal government – should slow down in the private sector, potentially stifling growth there and in the American economy as a whole.
“Federal layoffs are starting to make their way in data, and there is more to come,” Elizabeth Rectter, principal economist of Nerdwallet on Tuesday. “Today’s data returns to February, when the layoffs started. The visibility of the current cuts will only become apparent in the weeks and months to come. ”
She added: “Employers were already hiring fewer people who arrived in the year, and continuing an increasing uncertainty in all areas of the economy which will hold levels at lower levels.”
The estimates of consensus of facts show that the economists expected that the job offers of February fall to 7.625 million, against 7.74 million.
This story develops and will be updated.
