Layoffs of U.S. workers surged in February to levels that haven’t been recorded since the last two recessions amid the Trump administration’s mass job cuts at federal agencies, canceled contracts and fears of a widening trade war.
A report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released Thursday said that planned job cuts surged 245% in February to 172,017 last month. That’s the highest level since July 2020, when the economy was reeling from restrictions related to the COVID pandemic, and the highest total for February since the Great Recession in 2009.
The largest share of layoffs was in the government, with Challenger tracking 62,242 announced job cuts across 17 different federal agencies. The government has laid off roughly 62,530 workers in the first two months of 2025 – a 41,311% increase compared with a year ago.
“It appears the administration wants to cut even more workers, but an order to fire the roughly 200,000 probationary employees was blocked by a federal judge,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “It remains to be seen how many more workers will lose their federal government roles.”
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“When mass layoffs occur, it often leaves remaining staff feeling uneasy and uncertain. The likelihood that many more workers leave voluntarily is high,” Challenger added.
Retailers also announced 38,956 job cuts to bring the sector’s total to 45,375 for the year. That’s a 572% increase from the 6,751 retail job cuts that were announced in the first two months of 2024.
Technology companies continue to be a leading sector for job cuts, though they’re down from a year ago. Tech companies announced 14,554 job cuts in February for a total of 22,042 in 2025 – a figure that’s down 22% from the 28,218 cuts in the same period a year ago.
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So far in 2025, employers have announced 221,812 job cuts – the highest year-to-date total since 2009, when 428,099 job cuts were planned. That figure is 33% higher than the 166,945 job cuts announced in the same period in 2024.
“Private companies announced plans to shed thousands of jobs last month, particularly in retail and technology,” Challenger said. “With the impact of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) actions, as well as canceled government contracts, fear of trade wars, and bankruptcies, job cuts soared in February.”
In terms of why companies are cutting jobs, the impact of DOGE was the leading reason and 63,583 layoffs, both in the federal workforce and among government contractors, were attributed to it.
Market and economic conditions were attributed to 36,257 cuts, while bankruptcy was the reason for 35,411 cuts and jobs and store, unit, or plant closures accounted for 28,095.
Reuters contributed to this report.
