The U.S. government underwent a shutdown on October 7, 2025. What many may not know is that the shutdown might impact the opportunities citizens have to gain employment, especially those who were already unemployed. Since the shutdown, the unemployment rate has held steady at 4.3% but could rise to 4.4% with even a slight increase. That may seem small, but it would be the highest it has been since October 2021.
“A lot of the new entrants in the market—young workers, recent graduates, people who are already unemployed—are having a hard time getting into the market,” said Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed, a job posting site that provides labor market information. Indeed’s job posting measure shows a drop of 8.5% from the previous year as of September 26, 2025.
Non-governmental data shows job availability may be getting scarcer since the shutdown as well. This pattern appears in other reports too: ADP’s private payroll data for September showed a decline of 32,000 jobs.
According to a family member of mine, who prefers to remain anonymous, she has struggled to find a job, which seems to reflect the shrinking job availability—an effect ultimately tied to the shutdown.
