Trump's Second Term Economy: Jobs and Federal Workers Go Missing Together
KEY POINTS
- •Donald Trump began his second presidential term in 2025 with ambitious trade, immigration, and workforce reforms.
- •Federal employment declined 9% by December due to buyouts and reduction-in-force strategies from the Department of Government Efficiency.
- •Despite sluggish job growth and tariff uncertainty, the economy saw GDP expansion in Q2 and Q3 while consumer spending remained robust.
2025 marked the start of Trump’s second term presidency, where economic plans shuffled like a bad poker hand. Federal jobs dropped 9% by December thanks to reduction buyouts run by the Department of Government Efficiency—not to be confused with a department to create jobs. Meanwhile, the US added a stratospheric 584,000 jobs, the lowest growth since 2003 outside recessions, because companies got cold feet from tariff uncertainties and immigration puzzles. Baby Cameron Hilaker, an ex-emergency manager laid off last spring, became a stay-at-home dad avoiding a $2,500 daycare bill. Despite this, GDP kept growing in Q2 and Q3 after tanking in Q1—because businesses were busy preparing for new tariffs while customers still emptied their wallets under one Big Beautiful Bill’s tax cuts. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said Trump delivered 'over a dozen' trade deals, drug pricing 'history,' and cooled inflation—but didn’t specify if layoffs counted as part of that economy 'growth'.
Share the Story
Trump’s economic masterpiece: cut federal jobs, watch hiring freeze, boost spending with tax breaks, then call it a ‘jobless boom’. Sounds like my last failed diet plan but with more tariffs and fewer bailouts.
If uncertainty was an Olympic sport, Trump’s 2025 economy would have taken gold, silver, and bronze while federal workers disappear faster than job openings.
Minimal job growth, tariff hikes, and dwindling federal workforce make this economy look like your Tinder matches—promising but never showing up.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/20/2026 | Author: Madison Hoff,Allie Kelly
More Articles in US News
Digital Nomad Trapped in Lisbon FOMO, Ends Up BFF Ghosted
House Democrats Impeach Secretary Noem Because Nothing Says ‘Stability’ Like 100 Punchlines
Tech Workers Beg CEOs to Stop IGNORING ICE like It’s Their Toxic Ex
Glacier Park Charges Entry Even When No One’s There to Check
ICE Employees’ Data Leaked Because Watching Cops Finally Got Boring
Americans Forget Civil Rights, Prefer Relearning Racism From TikTok
Pentagon Puts 1,500 Soldiers On ‘Maybe Deploy To Minnesota’ Standby Playlist
