Federal workers account for more than a third of last month’s tally.
Planned employment cuts have reached the highest level as US-based employers navigate economic headwinds.
This is up 245% from the 49,795 cut in January and 103% from the planned layoffs of 84,638 a year ago.
In the first two months of 2025, employers announced their highest number since 2009, nearly 222,000 job cuts.
The company’s senior vice president and workplace expert Andrew Challenger said efforts by President Donald Trump’s task force to find efficiency, eliminate waste and settle federal personnel, which contributed to a significant share of the results in February.
The government led all sectors last month, with Challengers reporting 62,242 job cuts across 17 different agencies, up over 41,000% from the 151 planned cuts announced in February 2024.
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“It appears the administration wants to cut more workers, but the order to fire around 200,000 probation employees has been blocked by a federal judge. The report’s Challenger said:
“When there are massive layoffs, the rest of the staff often feel uneasy and uncertain. There’s a high chance that more workers will leave voluntarily.”
Retail and technology led the private sector path, according to Challenger data.
The retailer announced 38,965 jobs, bringing the previous year’s total to 45,375. This is a 572% jump from the first two months of 2024.
The tech company announced 14,554 job cuts in February. The year-on-year total was just above 22,000, a 22% decrease from last year.
“Private companies announced plans to abandon thousands of jobs last month, particularly in retail and technology. The impact of government efficiency (DOGE) actions, as well as cancellations of government contracts, fears of trade wars, and bankruptcy have resulted in a surge in job cuts in February,” the Challenger added.
Play Doge Ball in the labor market
The report comes amid growing concerns about the state of the labour market and the health of the broader economy. So far, early in the Trump administration, there have been various indicators of where the economy is heading.
The unemployment claims have crossed downwardly from 1.855 million to 897 million, adjusting Gauge’s claims, which monitor the number of individuals currently receiving unemployment benefits.
The four-week average was 224,250, which was barely changed.
Despite Doge-related actions, the collapse of federal employment has not yet appeared in the data.
June 15, 2024, Employment Sign at a Restaurant in Columbia, Maryland. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“The uncertainty in policy and slower consumer spending could have led to slower layoffs and hiring. Nela Richardson, Chief Economist at ADP, said, “This, combined with other recent metrics, suggests hiring employment among employers.
All eyes will be the February employment report. The consensus forecast shows 160,000 new jobs and a constant unemployment rate of 4%.
Bill Adams, the chief economist at Comerica Bank, who is looking forward to Doge’s impact on the US labor market, said Doge-related cuts could reduce employment levels to 250,000-500,000 over the next six months. Adams notes that this is “divided between the public sector serving the government and private employers.”
Feel the volatility
Financial markets are struggling to set a ignitation of positive momentum.
US stocks continued selling on March 6th, with the major average falling more than 1%.
Blue-Chip Dow Jones Industrial Average erased nearly 500 points, or 1.2%. The high-tech Nasdaq Composite Index fell by around 400 points (2.2%). The wider S&P 500 index also fell by around 100 points, or 1.75%.
In addition to digesting fresh employment data, investors are looking for clarity surrounding the White House tariff plans.
The latest decision comes one day after the president granted the US car manufacturer a 30-day suspension.
An important finding from the report is that businesses in different districts have realized that it can be difficult to pass costs to customers. The potential negative effects of tariffs can dent profits before they affect shoppers’ wallets.
As for the Federal Reserve, monetary policymakers are overwhelmingly expected to leave interest rates intact for their second consecutive meeting when they meet later this month. Marketwatchers believe the Fed is likely to adopt a waiting approach until inflation progresses further and trade becomes more clear.
“Growth and fragile trade relations put the Fed in a difficult position as they waited for inflation to slow down,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, in a memo sent by email to the Epoch Times. “We recently heard that several companies could raise prices preemptively and impact future inflation reports. The Fed could probably attend a meeting later this month, but could cut fees at a later meeting.”
