Trump’s tariffs are costing jobs

Record layoffs and falling employment are colliding with the administration’s signature economic policy.

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Layoffs in the United States have hit yet another record, and now the official jobs data has caught up to what the layoff numbers have been telling us for months. The latest economic reports show that not only are job cuts still elevated, the broader labor market is weakening in ways that directly contradict White House claims about a strong economy.

Job cuts are still piling up

We already knew the layoff situation was bad. New data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that employers have announced roughly 1.17 million job cuts in 2025, making this the worst year for layoffs since 2020.

In November alone, companies announced about 71,000 layoffs. That figure was slightly lower than October’s number, but it does nothing to change the larger trend. Layoffs so far this year are 54 percent higher than during the same January through November period last year.

And unlike 2020, there is no pandemic to point to as an explanation.

The unemployment rate is now rising

For months, we were waiting to see whether the official unemployment numbers would reflect what the layoff data was showing. Now we have our answer.

According to the latest report, the unemployment rate rose to about 4.6 percent in November, the highest level in more than four years. That increase confirms what many economists and analysts were already warning about. The labor market is cooling faster than the administration has been willing to admit.

Earlier expectations had already pointed in this direction. Prediction markets showed a strong belief that unemployment would rise above 4.4 percent, with a significant share expecting it to exceed 4.5 percent. Those expectations have now materialized.

Record layoffs, rising unemployment, and slowing job creation are not signs of a healthy labor market, no matter how officials try to spin them.

Job growth fell short… again

The updated jobs report also shows that the economy is struggling to create new jobs.

Revised figures indicate that the economy lost jobs in October, and while November saw some hiring, it came in well below expectations. Instead of the roughly 40,000 jobs that economists were expecting, job growth fell far short and failed to offset earlier losses.

While some sectors like health care and education were able to add jobs, other areas, including manufacturing and finance, continued to lose parts of their workforce. The overall picture is one of uneven hiring and weakening momentum.

Why companies are cutting workers

The reasons behind these layoffs matter, because they show where responsibility actually lies.

One of the most frequently cited reasons for layoffs in 2025 is tariffs, which have become Donald Trump’s signature economic policy. Blanket tariffs raise costs for American businesses that rely on imported materials and components. When those costs rise, companies respond by cutting workers, raising prices, or both.

Another common explanation is “restructuring.” That word often functions as corporate code for anticipating trouble because restructuring usually means layoffs, hiring freezes, and heavier workloads for employees who remain.

Manufacturing promises fell apart

Trump’s tariffs were sold as a plan to revive American manufacturing and protect industry jobs. Instead, manufacturing employment is near a five year low. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of manufacturing positions remain unfilled, often due to low wages, poor conditions, or instability in the sector.

What the tariffs have clearly done is increase uncertainty and raise costs. The workers these policies were supposedly designed to protect are being harmed by them.

What changes do we need?

Criticism alone is not enough. The scale of the layoff crisis exposes a deeper problem in the U.S. labor market.

Most Americans have almost no job security, and that reality makes stronger labor protections a necessity, not a radical idea.

A serious response would include a workers’ bill of rights, stronger union protections, and improved severance requirements. These are basic safeguards designed to prevent workers from being discarded with no warning and no support.

There are also legitimate questions about corporate incentives. If companies announce mass layoffs while executives receive bonuses, should there be penalties? Should stock buybacks face restrictions when firms are cutting jobs? Should large scale job destruction be discouraged as a business strategy?

Every new data point suggests that the current system is failing workers.

The story is still being ignored

More than a million layoffs in a single year should dominate economic coverage in the United States. Instead, it is competing with nonstop political chaos, culture wars, and manufactured distractions.

All while the labor market is weakening, job security is evaporating, and the policies being sold as pro worker are producing the opposite result.

You can spin rhetoric, but it’s difficult to spin 1.17 million layoffs.

This is far from the best economy the United States has ever seen, and it’s time for Trump to stop pretending it is.

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