PANews reported on February 20 that according to Jinshi, the number of initial unemployment claims in the United States increased modestly last week, indicating that the foundations of the labor market remain solid. In recent days, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has laid off thousands of federal employees. The unemployment claims of these laid-off personnel were submitted separately under the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, and the data reporting lags by one week. The White House hopes to cut about 2.3 million federal government workers, excluding the military and the post office. The unemployment rate remains at a historically low level, but this may change as workers who rely on federal government contracts or funds lose their jobs. Federal government layoffs, hiring freezes, and spending cuts are expected to have a chain reaction on the local economy, especially in Washington, DC and neighboring Virginia and Maryland, and trigger layoffs in the private sector.