Announced job cuts last month soared to levels not seen since the pandemic in the wake of Elon Musk’s efforts to hollow out the federal workforce. Efforts to hollow out the federal workforce by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have resulted in a dramatic rise in layoff announcements.

Layoffs announced by U.S.-employers jumped to levels not seen since the last two recessions amid mass federal government job cuts, canceled contracts and fears of trade wars, offering the clearest sign yet of the toll taken on the labor market by the policies of President Donald Trump's administration.

Layoffs spiked in February, led by the Department of Government Efficiency cuts. Employers cut about 172,000 jobs last month, according to the firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. That's the highest number of layoffs per month since the height of the pandemic in July 2020.

Under President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, the federal workforce has undergone widespread layoffs. Are you impacted?

The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, slightly lower than expected but up from the downwardly revised figure of 125,000 in January.

A new wave of cuts targeting career government workers has begun after Trump ordered federal agencies on February 26 to undertake large-scale layoffs.

The U.S. African Development Foundation refused to let DOGE members into its offices. DOGE returned with law enforcement.