This is an LA Times Studios podcast.

Hi, I'm Faith Pinnow from LA Times Studios, and you're listening to headlines.

Here's some of today's top stories from the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles is making some progress in its fight against homelessness, but funding cuts

are threatening to reverse those gains.

Andrew Corey reports that in the past two years alone, LA County has seen a 14% drop of people

living on the streets.

But officials warn the momentum is slowing.

A sluggish economy and more than $90 million in budget cuts are shrinking funds for critical services.

One leader says his organization has already laid off staff, calling the situation, quote, a cliff.

Last year, voters approved measure A, a half-cent sales tax to fight homelessness.

And while it's generating new money, most of it is tied up in long-term housing projects,

leaving things like job training, rental subsidies, and shelter programs at risk.

Local officials say that leaves fewer resources to get

people off the streets now. And without more help from the government, they warned the region's

recent gains could stall out. In other news, nearly 900,000 Americans lost their jobs this year

in the biggest wave of layoffs since the

pandemic. A new report shows cuts are up 66% from last year, already outpacing all of 2024.

Queenie Wong reports that government workers were the hardest hit, a direct result of

President Trump's Department

of Government Efficiency, or Doge, which slashed jobs across Washington.

But it's not just in the Capitol. California and the tech sector were next in line,

...