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. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States increased to 108435 Persons in January from 35553 Persons in December of 2025. Challenger Job Cuts in the United States averaged 67151.86 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 February of 2026.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States increased to 108435 Persons in January from 35553 Persons in December of 2025. 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
2026-01-08 10:30 AM
Challenger Job Cuts
Dec 35.553K 71.321K 89.0K
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 108.435K


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
ADP Employment Change 22.00 37.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM 0.40 0.10 percent Jan 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY 3.70 3.70 percent Jan 2026
Average Weekly Hours 34.30 34.20 Hours Jan 2026
Challenger Job Cuts 108435.00 35553.00 Persons Jan 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims 1862.00 1841.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Employed Persons 164520.00 163992.00 Thousand Jan 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 59.80 59.70 percent Jan 2026
Full Time Employment 135797.00 135215.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Government Payrolls -42.00 -16.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans 5306.00 10496.00 Persons Jan 2026
Initial Jobless Claims 227.00 232.00 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 219.50 212.50 Thousand Feb 2026
Participation Rate 62.50 62.40 percent Jan 2026
Labour Costs 121.64 122.23 points Sep 2025
Long Term Unemployment Rate 1.07 1.14 percent Jan 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls 5.00 -8.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Minimum Wages 7.25 7.25 USD/Hour Dec 2025
Non Farm Payrolls 130.00 48.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private 172.00 64.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Nonfarm Productivity 4.90 4.10 percent Sep 2025
Part Time Employment 28743.00 28712.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Population 341.15 338.51 Million Dec 2024
Productivity 117.97 116.55 points Sep 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 8.00 8.40 percent Jan 2026
Unemployed Persons 7362.00 7503.00 Thousand Jan 2026
Unemployment Rate 4.30 4.40 percent Jan 2026
Unit Labour Costs -1.90 -2.90 percent Sep 2025
Wage Growth 3.76 3.92 percent Nov 2025
Wages 31.95 31.83 USD/Hour Jan 2026
Wages in Manufacturing 29.63 29.52 USD/Hour Jan 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate 9.00 10.40 percent Jan 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
108435.00 35553.00 671129.00 14875.00 1994 - 2026 Persons Monthly
NSA

News Stream
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
November US Job Cuts Remain Elevated
US-based employers announced 71,321 job cuts in November 2025, the highest for the month since 2022, compared to 57,727 a year earlier, and marking the eighth time this year job cuts were higher than the corresponding month one year earlier. However, layoffs fell from 153,074 in October which was the highest for an October month since 2003. Most cuts were announced by telecommunication providers (15,139), primarily from Verizon, followed by tech (12,377), food companies, particularly those that handle beef products (6,708), services (5,509), and retailers (3,290). Restructuring was the leading reason for job reductions, totaling 20,217. Through November, employers have announced 1,170,821 job cuts, the most since 2020 and a 54% compared to the first eleven months of 2024. Meanwhile, US employers have announced 9,074 hiring plans in November 2025, the least in three months.
2025-12-04