The Golden Age . . . for business, not for you.
3Q2025, updated Jan 8, 2026:
Trump has cut the federal workforce by about 9.2%, but federal employment has actually grown a little since October. Year over year in December federal employment is down 274,000.
Year over year in December local government employment in the United States has grown by 170,000, while state government employment nationwide is down 45,000.
The three categories yield a net cut in government employment at all levels nationwide year over year of 149,000.
Trump's peak average was 12.779 million manufacturing employees in 2019.
We're at 12.732 million on average in 2025.
The 2023 average was 12.873 million, the post-Great Recession peak.
The low but rising unemployment rate on a monthly basis since 2023 seems out of whack with a relatively flat initial claims average on an annual basis since 2021.
The October data remains missing, so the average for 11 months of 2025 comes in at 49.3%, down from 49.65% in 2024.
Full time has been trending lower on a monthly basis since the recent period peak in Jun 2023 at 50.92%