Is the US unemployment rate set to spike? Bloomberg News' story count regarding job cuts, firings, and layoffs surged to 15,651 last week, the most in at least a year. The number of stories has doubled over the last 3 weeks. This comes as DOGE has fired tens of thousands of federal workers so far this year. According to Capital Economics, up to 200,000 federal staffers have likely been let go. Moreover, initial jobless claims in Washington DC have DOUBLED this year to 1,626, the highest since March 2023 and above 2008 levels. US government layoffs are here.