Layoffs were up and job openings were down in statistics released this week by the Labor Department.
U.S. employers posted some 7.6 million job openings in February, while layoffs were higher than any point since the Covid pandemic hit the country in March 2020. Those numbers, experts say, are starting to reflect the job cuts being enacted by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
The number of vacancies was down a bit from 7.8 million in January and from 8.4 million a year ago. Openings have come down fairly steadily since topping out at 12.1 million in March 2022 when the economy was still roaring back from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Layoffs rose to 1.8 million in February from 1.7 million in January. Federal agencies laid off 18,000 workers, most since October 2020. Retailers, cautious about the outlook for 2025, laid off 238,000 in February, highest figure since April 2020 in the depths of the COVID-19 recession, according to a report from The Associated Press.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, showed that the overall number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence they can find better pay or working conditions elsewhere — fell slightly in February, the AP reported.
