The U.S. job market has taken a worrisome turn. Job cuts are over a third higher than the same period in 2024. More government and private sector job cuts are on the way.

Also potentially affecting today’s numbers are the efforts by the Trump administration to freeze funding of various kinds and step up scrutiny of federal payments to contractors, something Trump and Musk say is aimed at cutting fraud, waste and abuse and will help shrink the budget deficit.

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