More stories

  • in

    Unemployment spikes in Washington, D.C., as Trump and Musk begin efforts to shrink the government

    Jobless filings in Washington, D.C., surged to 1,780 for the week ending Feb. 8, a 36% increase from the prior week.
    Since President Donald Trump has taken office, nearly 4,000 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance.
    The spike comes as Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency advisory board have ordered layoffs across the federal government.

    Elon Musk listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 11, 2025. 
    Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

    President Donald Trump’s moves to fire thousands of federal government workers have coincided with a surge in jobless claims in Washington, D.C., that could get worse as the efforts intensify.
    Since Trump has taken office, nearly 4,000 workers in the city have filed for unemployment insurance as part of a surge that began at the start of the new year, according to Labor Department figures not adjusted for seasonal factors.

    In all, just shy of 7,000 claims have been filed in the six weeks of the new year, or about 55% more than in the prior six-week period. Filings rose to 1,780 for the week ending Feb. 8, a 36% increase from the prior week and more than four times around the same period in 2024.

    By contrast, the total level of claims in the U.S. has been moving little, with the four-week moving average of initial claims at 216,000, little changed from the beginning of the year and actually trending lower for the most part over the past several months.
    The jump in D.C. claims comes as Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency advisory board have ordered layoffs across the government structure and instituted buyout programs for early retirement.
    “I expect it to go higher, and definitely we’ll be watching it very closely,” said Raj Namboothiry, senior vice president at Manpower North America, the workforce solutions company.
    While it’s unclear what share of the spike is directly related to federal government workers, the rise coincides with the White House ordering the layoffs of probationary employees along with thousands of others as the administration seeks a broad-based reduction in the labor force. In addition, some 75,000 employees have accepted the buyout offer.

    Washington, D.C., had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 5.5% as of December 2024, surpassed only by Nevada, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, the metropolitan area including the Arlington and Alexandria, Va., area was at just 2.7%. The national unemployment rate for the month was 4.1%, before slipping to 4% in January.

    Broader labor picture still solid

    Namboothiry said the reduction of the federal workforce could present some problems in the region, though it would do little to dent a national picture that he called “fairly stable.”
    “Yes, the numbers are definitely sizable,” he said. “But because you’re spread across multiple [geographies], multiple skill sets, multiple sectors, I don’t see that playing a significant role in impacting the overall market.”
    There are about 2.4 million federal workers, excluding post office employees, with nearly one-fifth employed in the D.C. area and the others spread around the country. Outside of spikes around tax season, the number has held relatively constant since the late 1960s.
    Still, Trump has targeted the federal employment rolls as a major part of his effort to shrink the size of government.
    Displaced employees may not be out of work long, however. Namboothiry thinks their skill sets could be in high demand for certain sectors of the economy.
    “This presents an opportunity, because there are clients who are looking for talent that’s exiting that may benefit,” he said. “There’s going to be some conversations around an interest from employers with this pool of talent.”
    The cuts that Trump are targeting are spread around the government, with some agencies expecting dramatic cutbacks.
    How those displaced employees fare will depend on their fields of work, said Allison Shrivastava, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab.
    “It might be that very few of them remain without work,” she said. “It definitely depends on sector. So, for example, if you are, As Trump ramps up layoffs, unemployment claims start to spike in Washington, D.C. You’re in the accounting sector right now, that’s a sector that, in terms of job postings, we’ve seen perform pretty well. Say you’re in software development … those jobs have not been as in demand. The level of difficulty that you would have in finding a job would really be contingent on the sector that you’re in.” More

  • in

    MI5 investigates use of Chinese green technology in UK

    Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Britain’s security services are taking part in a review into China’s growing role in the UK’s energy system amid concerns over Beijing’s influence in strategic national infrastructure.MI5 is helping establish the extent to which the use of Chinese technology such as solar panels or industrial batteries could pose potential future security threats, according to people close to the situation.Concern over Chinese companies’ dominance of international supply chains for technologies crucial to decarbonisation is growing as the UK tries to shift away from fossil fuels.That has sparked concern in Whitehall about the potential for sensitive data to be shared with the Chinese government as well as the country’s potential control over strategic energy assets.The review into China’s growing role in the energy system is part of the government’s broader “audit” of UK-China relations that will report later this year.“The spooks are looking at it,” said one official. “It’s tied to the industrial strategy, looking at general questions of where we get our things from, and the security risk.”MI5 director-general Ken McCallum said in October that the “National Protective Security Authority” — a branch of the domestic security service responsible for monitoring technical threats — has had a long-running “focus” on supply chain security.Ken McCallum, MI5 director-general, says a branch of the domestic security service responsible for monitoring technical threats has had a long-running ‘focus’ on supply chain security More

  • in

    Uncertainty About Economic Policy Is Hampering Business Decisions

    The lack of clarity about tariffs and other policies could hurt hiring and investing. But the strong U.S. economy should provide a buffer.It is an axiom heard countless times in business school lecture halls and on corporate earnings calls: Uncertainty is bad for business.The U.S. economy is about to test that proposition like never before.The first weeks of the second Trump administration have been a dizzying whirlwind of economic policy moves: A spending freeze was declared, then rescinded. Federal programs, and even entire agencies, have been suspended or shut down. Tariffs have been threatened, announced, canceled, delayed or enacted — sometimes in a matter of days or even hours. Measures of economic policy uncertainty have soared to levels normally associated with recessions and global crises.Business leaders — many of whom cheered President Trump’s election victory, expecting lower taxes and reduced regulation — have been left shaking their heads.“Your guess is as good as mine what’s happening in Washington,” said Nicholas Pinchuk, chief executive of the automotive toolmaker Snap-on.“So far what we’re seeing is a lot of costs and a lot of chaos,” Jim Farley, the chief executive of Ford Motor, told investors at a conference in New York this week.“It’s like your head is spinning with what’s coming down — you just never know,” said Chad Coulter, founder and chief executive of Biscuit Belly, a chain of breakfast restaurants based in Louisville, Ky.

    .dw-chart-subhed {
    line-height: 1;
    margin-bottom: 6px;
    font-family: nyt-franklin;
    color: #121212;
    font-size: 15px;
    font-weight: 700;
    }

    Economic policy uncertainty index
    Note: Daily data, shown as biweekly average.Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. LouisBy The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    What to Know About VAT, the Tax System Used in Europe That Trump Despises

    The president says the VAT system used across Europe gives other countries unfair trade advantages. Here’s how the system started.President Trump on Thursday ordered his advisers to determine new tariff rates on America’s trading partners, a move that he said would “correct longstanding imbalances in international trade.”As part of his plan, Mr. Trump has taken aim at the value-added tax, a system used widely in Europe and elsewhere to tax the consumption of goods and services. The president and his team describe the tax as giving other countries an unfair trade advantage over the United States.Here’s what to know.What is a value-added tax?It’s a consumption tax that adds tax on a good or service at each stage of production. The final VAT is the sum of the tax paid at each stage. This system is unlike a sales tax in the United States, which is imposed by states on the final sale of the good.In Europe, VAT rates vary by country, but on average are about 20 percent — far higher than state sales taxes in the United States, which averaged 6.6 percent in 2023, according to the Tax Foundation.Value-added taxes are assessed at each stage of production for a good or service. The cost is borne by the final consumer, not by the business. If the goods are exported, much of the value-added taxes are given back to the exporter. That provides an incentive for businesses to export goods instead of selling in their home market.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Is corporate America already souring on Trump?

    Standard Digitalwas $540 now $319 per yearSave now on essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device.What’s included Global news & analysisExpert opinionFT App on Android & iOSFT Edit appFirstFT: the day’s biggest stories20+ curated newslettersFollow topics & set alerts with myFTFT Videos & Podcasts10 monthly gift articles to share More

  • in

    How Tariffs Work

    A pillar of President Trump’s policies has been tariffs, which are taxes on products imported from other countries. He has imposed or threatened to impose them as a way to influence global supply chains, raise revenue and extract concessions from other countries. But what can often be lost amid proclamations targeting other countries is who […] More