US-based employers announced 48,307 job cuts in February 2026, less than 108,435 in January and well below 172,017 a year earlier. Tech announced the most cuts (11,039), as "tech is responding to a number of pressures right now. AI is the big story, but there are also global regulatory concerns, a slowdown in digital advertising driven by tariffs and economic uncertainty, and higher costs to both employ workers and access funding” said said Andy Challenger, Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Education followed with 5,417 job cuts and industrial manufacturing announced 4,109 cuts. “With US involvement in a growing war in Iran, the end of Q1 may bring more layoff plans as companies tighten belts amid uncertainty and higher costs,” Andy Challenger added. Through February, employers announced 156,742 job cuts, the lowest January-to-February total since 2022. The tech sector led job cuts so far this year (33.330), followed by transportation (31,702) and health care/products (19,228). source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States decreased to 48307 Persons in February from 108435 Persons in January of 2026. Challenger Job Cuts in the United States averaged 67103.04 Persons from 1994 until 2026, reaching an all time high of 671129.00 Persons in April of 2020 and a record low of 14875.00 Persons in November of 2021. This page provides the latest reported value for - United States Challenger Job Cuts - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United States Challenger Job Cuts - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2026.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States decreased to 48307 Persons in February from 108435 Persons in January of 2026. Challenger Job Cuts in the United States is expected to be 90000.00 Persons by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the United States Challenger Job Cuts is projected to trend around 62000.00 Persons in 2027, according to our econometric models.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2026-02-05 12:30 PM
Challenger Job Cuts
Jan 108.435K 35.553K 43.0K
2026-03-05 12:30 PM
Challenger Job Cuts
Feb 48.307K 108.435K 95.0K
2026-04-02 11:30 AM
Challenger Job Cuts
Mar 48.307K 90K


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
ADP Employment Change 63.00 11.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM 0.40 0.40 percent Feb 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY 3.80 3.70 percent Feb 2026
Average Weekly Hours 34.30 34.30 Hours Feb 2026
Challenger Job Cuts 48307.00 108435.00 Persons Feb 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims 1868.00 1822.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Employed Persons 162912.00 163097.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Employment Cost Index 0.70 0.80 percent Dec 2025
Employment Cost - Benefits 0.70 0.80 percent Dec 2025
Employment Cost - Wages 0.70 0.80 percent Dec 2025
Employment Rate 59.30 59.40 percent Feb 2026
Full Time Employment 134341.00 134441.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Government Payrolls -6.00 -20.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans 12755.00 5306.00 Persons Feb 2026
Initial Jobless Claims 213.00 213.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Job Layoffs and Discharges 1762.00 1701.00 Thousand Dec 2025
JOLTs Job Openings 6542.00 6928.00 Thousand Dec 2025
JOLTs Job Quits 3204.00 3193.00 Thousand Dec 2025
Job Quits Rate 2.00 2.00 Percent Dec 2025
Job Openings 6038.00 6574.00 Thousand Dec 2025
Jobless Claims 4-week Average 215.75 220.50 Thousand Feb 2026
Participation Rate 62.00 62.10 percent Feb 2026
Labour Costs 122.55 121.72 points Dec 2025
Long Term Unemployment Rate 1.11 1.06 percent Feb 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls -12.00 5.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Minimum Wages 7.25 7.25 USD/Hour Dec 2025
Non Farm Payrolls -92.00 126.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private -86.00 146.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Nonfarm Productivity 2.80 5.20 percent Dec 2025
Part Time Employment 28478.00 28727.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Population 342.28 340.97 Million Dec 2025
Productivity 119.64 118.81 points Dec 2025
Retirement Age Men 67.00 66.83 Years Dec 2026
Retirement Age Women 67.00 66.83 Years Dec 2026
U-6 Unemployment Rate 7.90 8.10 percent Feb 2026
Unemployed Persons 7571.00 7368.00 Thousand Feb 2026
Unemployment Rate 4.40 4.30 percent Feb 2026
Unit Labour Costs 2.80 -1.80 percent Dec 2025
Wage Growth 3.68 3.89 percent Dec 2025
Wages 32.03 31.94 USD/Hour Feb 2026
Wages in Manufacturing 29.77 29.60 USD/Hour Feb 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate 9.50 8.90 percent Feb 2026


United States Challenger Job Cuts
Challenger Job-Cut Report provides information on the number of announced corporate layoffs by industry and region.
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
48307.00 108435.00 671129.00 14875.00 1994 - 2026 Persons Monthly
NSA

News Stream
Job Cuts in the US Fall Sharply in February
US-based employers announced 48,307 job cuts in February 2026, less than 108,435 in January and well below 172,017 a year earlier. Tech announced the most cuts (11,039), as "tech is responding to a number of pressures right now. AI is the big story, but there are also global regulatory concerns, a slowdown in digital advertising driven by tariffs and economic uncertainty, and higher costs to both employ workers and access funding” said said Andy Challenger, Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Education followed with 5,417 job cuts and industrial manufacturing announced 4,109 cuts. “With US involvement in a growing war in Iran, the end of Q1 may bring more layoff plans as companies tighten belts amid uncertainty and higher costs,” Andy Challenger added. Through February, employers announced 156,742 job cuts, the lowest January-to-February total since 2022. The tech sector led job cuts so far this year (33.330), followed by transportation (31,702) and health care/products (19,228).
2026-03-05
US January Job Cuts Highest Since 2009
US-based employers announced 108,435 job cuts in January 2026, the highest level since October and the largest January total since 2009, compared to 33,553 cuts announced in December. “Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in Q1, but this is a high total for January. It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Transportation announced the highest number (31,243), primarily due to UPS. The company announced it would cut 30K jobs after severing ties with Amazon. Technology announced 22,291 job cuts, with the bulk coming from Amazon (16K) as it restructures its layers of management. Healthcare companies and health products manufacturers announced 17,107 cuts, the most for the industry since April 2020. Meanwhile, employers announced 5,306 hiring plans, the lowest total for the month since records began in 2009.
2026-02-05
December US Job Cuts Lowest in 17 Months
US-based employers announced 35,553 job cuts in December 2025, the lowest since July 2024, down from 71,321 in November and 8% below the level seen in December 2024. “The year closed with the fewest announced layoff plans all year. While December is typically slow, this coupled with higher hiring plans, is a positive sign after a year of high job cutting plans,” said Andy Challenger, from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In 2025, employers announced 1,206,374 job cuts, an increase of 58% from 2024 and the highest total since 2020. The Government led all industries in job cuts with 308,167, primarily in the Federal Government. Technology led in private-sector with 154,445. "Tech has been pivoting to both developing and implementing AI much more quickly than any other industry. This coupled with over-hiring over the last decade created a wave of job loss in the industry,” said Challenger. Meanwhile, employers announced 507,647 planned hires, down 34% from 2024 and the lowest since 2010
2026-01-08