The full variety of federal authorities staff who will lose their jobs due to mass layoffs being pushed by the second Trump Administration and the Elon Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) stays to be seen. However in keeping with reporting from the Washington Put up and Newsweek, the quantity may very well be as excessive as 200,000.
In an article revealed on February 22, Salon’s Daria Solovieva examines the layoffs’ attainable financial affect. And he or she warns that in keeping with some economists, the layoffs may set off a serious recession.
“A month into President Donald Trump’s second time period,” Solovieva studies, “the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) — which isn’t a authorities company, however an outdoor advisory group — has been on a rampage in what’s shaping as much as be the largest purge of the federal authorities in trendy American historical past…. Whereas most Individuals help the thought of constructing the federal government run extra effectively, the best way these layoffs are carried out is elevating considerations concerning the instant and long-term affect on the U.S. economic system.”
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One of many economists who’s sounding the alarm is Jesse Rothstein, who teaches on the College of California, Berkeley.
In a thread posted on Bluesky on February 18, Rothstein wrote, “It appears nearly unavoidable at this level that we’re headed for a deep, deep recession. Simply based mostly on 200K+ federal firings & pullback of contracts, the March employment report (to be launched April 4) appears sure to point out greater job losses than any month ever outdoors of some in 2008-9 and 2020…. Add on to that big personal market uncertainty – how may you rent in these situations? – and that is going to be very, very dangerous.”
Solovieva notes that the aggressive tariffs Trump is pushing may make the impact of the layoffs even worse.
However Ira Kalish, chief economist at Deloitte, is not predicting that there can be a recession anytime quickly.
Kalish instructed Salon, “It’s laborious to make a forecast, as we merely don’t know what the administration will do relating to tariffs. Nor do we now have indication but as to what the Congress will do relating to taxes and spending. Assuming no dramatic coverage adjustments this 12 months, I do not see a recession coming within the close to future.”
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), throughout an interview with MNSBC’s Nicolle Wallace, warned that layoffs within the public sector will negatively have an effect on the personal sector.
Crockett instructed Wallace, “We’re residing with this incompetent administration that’s actually driving us to a recession at warp pace. All I can say is, Maintain on to your cash and just be sure you have a method to earn a living, even should you lose your job.”
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Learn the total Salon article at this hyperlink.
