Federal Employee Jobless Claims Stabilize After Initial Spike Following Trump Job Cuts

New applications for unemployment benefits filed by federal employees have remained largely flat in the past five weeks, following a brief increase that coincided with the Trump administration’s initial workforce reductions across various agencies, as per Bloomberg.

For the week ending April 26, there were 468 initial claims filed nationwide under the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program. This figure is essentially unchanged from the 470 claims filed the previous week, according to data released on Thursday by the Department of Labor. This level aligns with the average number of claims filed last year.

Despite President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announcing plans to cut tens of thousands of federal jobs, these plans have not yet translated into consistently high levels of weekly filings for unemployment benefits, apart from the increase observed at the end of February and the beginning of March.

Several factors may be contributing to the stabilization of jobless claims. Some terminated federal employees may have already secured new employment, while others may be receiving severance pay or awaiting court decisions regarding their employment status. These circumstances suggest that jobless claims could potentially rise in the coming weeks and months as these factors change.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that after approximately 280,000 government worker firings linked to DOGE actions were announced in March, only about 2,700 DOGE-related job-cut plans were announced in April. It is important to note that Challenger compiles announced layoffs, and it remains uncertain whether all announced plans will result in actual job losses.

The number of continuing claims filed by federal workers for the week ending April 19 was 6,716, an increase from 6,634 the previous week. Continuing claims are considered a proxy for the number of individuals currently receiving unemployment benefits.

The data is subject to revision before being officially reported in the May 8 weekly jobless claims report.

California recorded the highest number of claims filed by federal employees last week, with 97, followed by Texas (47), Georgia (40), Maryland (39), and Washington, DC (32), according to data released on Thursday.

Applications filed by unemployed federal employees are reported separately from those of other workers. In data published earlier on Thursday, the Labor Department noted that overall applications for US unemployment benefits increased during the week that followed Easter and spring recess in New York City public schools.