Home Insights Macro views Trump’s impact on the labor market

The Trump administration’s bold policy initiatives to increase government efficiency and tighten immigration will likely have macroeconomic consequences for the labor market, potentially weighing on labor demand and supply. However, the combined effect will likely also be very nuanced,  suggesting the data over the coming months will be difficult to parse and understand, making policymaking even more challenging for the Fed.

The Trump administration has unleashed bold policy initiatives on government efficiency and immigration that are likely to impact the labor market, though in a very nuanced way.

Plans for a wide-scale reduction in government workforce would likely have limited direct impact, especially as the federal workforce only makes up 2% of total nonfarm payrolls. Moreover, while government jobs have increasingly driven payroll gains in recent years—making up 23% of jobs created since August 2022—only 3% is attributable to the federal government.

Outsourced government work has grown significantly, however, so a reduction in contract spending could pose bigger challenges. Such a reduction would likely dampen labor demand for impacted downstream industries, including professional services, healthcare, and transportation.

Meanwhile, the administration’s goal to implement stricter immigration measures is unlikely to meaningfully impact the flow of labor, especially as immigration flows had already begun normalizing in late-2024.

However, with foreign-born labor making up over half of labor force growth since 2023, increased immigration crackdowns could significantly affect the stock of labor. Tighter immigration policy could reduce labor supply in industries most reliant on immigrant labor: construction, accommodation and food services.

The combined effect of these policies will likely make the labor data over the coming months difficult to parse and understand. Already having to navigate tariff uncertainties, this only makes policymaking even more challenging for the Fed.

Macro views
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