The Trump administration’s massive federal cuts and swelling feelings of economic uncertainty helped fuel a recession-level spike in layoff plans last month, new data showed Thursday.

US-based employers last month announced plans to slash 172,017 jobs, a 103% increase from January and the highest February total since 2009, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas’s latest monthly job cuts report released Thursday.

It’s the 12th highest monthly total in the 32 years Challenger has been tracking job cuts. The 11 others (four came during the Covid-19 pandemic) all occurred when the US was in a recession, Challenger data shows.

The largest share of job cut announcements came in the government sector, where the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has axed jobs, slashed federal spending and scrapped contracts.

By Challenger’s count, there were 62,242 announced cuts across 17 federal agencies. That’s a 41,311% increase from the 151 cuts announced through February 2024, Challenger noted.

The DOGE effect was not limited to the public sector: Downstream impacts, such as the loss of funding for private nonprofits, led to another 894 cuts, according to the report.

Outside of the government, the next largest cuts were in retail (38,956), technology (14,554) and consumer products (10,625).

Thursday’s report is “something to be concerned about,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY Parthenon, noting that the government cuts accounted for one-third of the overall announced layoffs.

“That in itself is something that is concerning and does portend a shift in the way employers are approaching this labor market,” he said.

As far as the reasons behind the planned cuts (which could come to fruition in the coming weeks and months), DOGE actions led the way (63,583), followed by bankruptcy (35,172), market/economic conditions (28,098) and restructuring (16,828).

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/06/economy/us-jobs-report-february-preview/index.html