Washington, DC’s economy is headed for a recession as Trump slashes federal workforce

Washington CNN — Tyler Wolf was laid off last week from his job as an employment attorney at the US Department of Health and Human Services. “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.” Economic pain in the DC metro There are about 2.4 million federal workers in the United States, excluding those employed by the military and the Postal Service — 17% of whom live in the DC metropolitan area, according to government data. Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images “We’re hearing concerns from businesses about the overall reduction in local business activity but also about the federal cuts,” Chinyere Hubbard, president of the DC Chamber of Commerce, told CNN. “The recession in DC will be noticeable during the second half of this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually started in March because we’ve already seen little indications of weakness,” Kamins said, adding that “there’s always a lag between when things are happening in the economy and when the data reflect those events.” The metro’s housing market also suggests more people might be leaving the metro area amid Trump’s layoffs: Homes listed for sale began to pick up in late January, according to Realtor.com data, and were 56.2% higher in the week of March 8 compared to the same week a year earlier. “While I expect many households will choose to stay in the area and pivot to find new job opportunities, some will likely choose to leave and retire or find a job elsewhere.” “I’m more upset than anything because of the arbitrary nature of all this, but I do feel confident that I’ll get back on my feet — with time,” said Wolf.