Washington, DC’s economy is headed for a recession as Trump slashes federal workforce
CNN
Tyler Wolf was laid off last week (March 14) as an employment attorney at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 32-year-old had been saving up to buy a home and planned to move in with his girlfriend this year.
Tyler Wolf was laid off last week from his job as an employment attorney at the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 32-year-old had been saving up to buy a home and planned to move in with his girlfriend this year. Wolf is now planning to move out of his apartment near The Wharf, a trendy waterfront business district in the city, by early April to live with his parents in Virginia. He has also cut back on his spending. The Trump administration’s overhaul of the federal government, carried out in large part by Elon Musk’s government efficiency team, has left tens of thousands in Washington without a job. That’s threatening a key economic engine of America’s capital city — consumer spending. And with signs of strain already showing, economists at Moody’s say DC could slip into a recession as soon as this year. Wolf has already adjusted his behavior accordingly as he looks for a new position in a competitive job market. “I’m lucky that I don’t have children or a mortgage because it gives me a bit more flexibility, but this is definitely going to set me back quite a bit,” Wolf said. “Now I’ve been cooking at home, I try not to go out for drinks, and it’s been a bit disheartening seeing most open attorney positions here asking for a lot more experience than I have.”
Workers thinking about criticizing their employer on social media might want to think twice.
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The Trump bump in consumer sentiment is now a Trump slump.
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Tesla, the electric car company run by Elon Musk, said this week that retaliatory tariffs against US manufacturers could harm its operations and that the US should carefully consider its trade policies, a break from Musk’s ally President Donald Trump.