US layoffs spike to 5-year high

US layoffs rose sharply in February, hitting a five-year high as the new Donald Trump administration seeks to curtail government and public sector jobs.

US employers announced 172,017 layoffs for February, up 245% from January, marking the highest monthly count since July 2020 — when the labor market was reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported.

Compared to the same month last year, total layoffs spiked 103%, according to the report.

More than one-third of the total came from billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the federal headcount. Challenger put the total of announced federal job cuts at 62,242, spanning 17 agencies.

January's planned reductions brought the total through the first two months of the year to 221,812 employees — also the highest for the period since 2009 and up 33% from the same time in 2024.