US-based employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October 2026, up 2% from 43,281 cuts in September, but down 71% from last year and the lowest for an October month since 2023. It is the eighth month this year in which cuts came in below the same month one year earlier. Food companies led all industries in the amount of cuts (9,677), followed by technology (5,576) and services (5,458). Through October, employers have announced 617,189 job cuts, down 44% year-on-year. It is the lowest year-to-date total through October since 2022, when 243,338 cuts were announced. The tech sector leads all industries with 171,501 cuts up 21% yoy. “This is a low-fire environment. Employers are holding on to the workers they have heading into the holidays, and the hiring they are announcing is largely short-term, seasonal work. Companies want the flexibility to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount,” said Andy Challenger, from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States increased to 43994 Persons in October from 43281 Persons in September of 2026. Challenger Job Cuts in the United States averaged 66909.19 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 November of 2026.

Challenger Job Cuts in the United States increased to 43994 Persons in October from 43281 Persons in September of 2026. Challenger Job Cuts in the United States is expected to be 73000.00 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 92000.00 Persons in 2027 and 103000.00 Persons in 2028, according to our econometric models.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2026-10-01 09:30 AM
Challenger Job Cuts
Sep 43.281K 52.881K 78.0K
2026-11-05 10:30 AM
Challenger Job Cuts
Oct 43.994K 43.281K 51.0K
2026-12-03 10:30 AM
Challenger Job Cuts
Nov 43.994K


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
ADP Employment Change 86.00 86.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM 0.40 0.30 percent Oct 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY 3.10 3.20 percent Oct 2026
Average Weekly Hours 34.40 34.40 Hours Oct 2026
Challenger Job Cuts 43994.00 43281.00 Persons Oct 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims 1718.00 1695.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Employed Persons 163615.00 163152.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Employment Cost Index 0.80 0.90 percent Sep 2026
Employment Cost - Benefits 0.90 1.00 percent Sep 2026
Employment Cost - Wages 0.70 0.90 percent Sep 2026
Employment Rate 59.30 59.20 percent Oct 2026
Full Time Employment 135090.00 134376.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Government Payrolls 6.00 -18.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans 444692.00 90787.00 Persons Oct 2026
Initial Jobless Claims 189.00 195.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Job Layoffs and Discharges 1641.00 1768.00 Thousand Sep 2026
JOLTs Job Openings 7523.00 7190.00 Thousand Sep 2026
JOLTs Job Quits 3365.00 3044.00 Thousand Sep 2026
Job Quits Rate 2.10 1.90 Percent Sep 2026
Job Openings 7531.00 7147.00 Thousand Sep 2026
Jobless Claims 4-week Average 194.75 197.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Participation Rate 61.90 61.80 percent Oct 2026
Labour Costs 124.39 124.60 points Sep 2026
Long Term Unemployment Rate 1.15 1.14 percent Oct 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls 19.00 13.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Minimum Wages 7.25 7.25 USD/Hour Dec 2026
Non Farm Payrolls 165.00 60.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private 159.00 78.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Nonfarm Productivity 3.60 2.10 percent Sep 2026
Part Time Employment 28504.00 28746.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Population 342.28 340.97 Million Dec 2025
Productivity 121.92 120.86 points Sep 2026
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 7.60 percent Oct 2026
Unemployed Persons 7068.00 7109.00 Thousand Oct 2026
Unemployment Rate 4.10 4.20 percent Oct 2026
Unit Labour Costs -0.70 1.90 percent Sep 2026
Wage Growth 4.13 4.22 percent Sep 2026
Wages 32.75 32.63 USD/Hour Oct 2026
Wages in Manufacturing 30.38 30.38 USD/Hour Oct 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate 9.30 9.90 percent Oct 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
43994.00 43281.00 671129.00 14875.00 1994 - 2026 Persons Monthly
NSA

News Stream
US Job Cuts Hit a Three-Year Low for October
US-based employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October 2026, up 2% from 43,281 cuts in September, but down 71% from last year and the lowest for an October month since 2023. It is the eighth month this year in which cuts came in below the same month one year earlier. Food companies led all industries in the amount of cuts (9,677), followed by technology (5,576) and services (5,458). Through October, employers have announced 617,189 job cuts, down 44% year-on-year. It is the lowest year-to-date total through October since 2022, when 243,338 cuts were announced. The tech sector leads all industries with 171,501 cuts up 21% yoy. “This is a low-fire environment. Employers are holding on to the workers they have heading into the holidays, and the hiring they are announcing is largely short-term, seasonal work. Companies want the flexibility to meet holiday demand without adding permanent headcount,” said Andy Challenger, from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
2026-11-05
US Job Cuts Fall in September
US-based employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September 2026, down from 52,881 in August and 54,064 last year. It is the lowest total for the month since 2022. The tech sector announced the most cuts (10,799), followed by food (7,326) and services (3,306). "Companies are in a wait-and-see period right now. Employers are facing high energy costs, an uncertain war in Iran, a rate hike that could make hiring more expensive, plus the likelihood of surging healthcare costs. We’ve seen layoff activity subside over this year, and September continues to illustrate this point,” said Andy Challenger from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Meanwhile, Q3 layoff plans totaled 129,591, down 43% from the 226,242 layoff plans in Q2 2026. Through September, employers have announced 573,195 job cuts, down 39% from the 946,426 cuts announced in the first nine months of 2025. The tech sector lead with 165,925 cuts.
2026-10-01
US Job Cuts Rise in August
US-based employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August 2026 compared to 33,429 in July. However, the figure is down 38.5% compared with the same month last year and represents the lowest August month since 2022. Consumer Products led all sectors with 10,057 cuts, driven by announcements at Procter & Gamble and Estée Lauder. Food producers followed, with 7,982 cuts and Tyson accounting for nearly a third attributed to a historic cattle shortage. Technology (6,103), financial (4,286) and communication (4,113) followed. Restructuring led all reasons for job cuts in August with 16,173 announced while AI fell to the fourth-most cited reason with 3,462 cuts. Through August, employers have announced 529,914 job cuts, down 41% from the first eight months of 2025 and the lowest January-to-August total since 2022. Technology leads all industries with 155,126 cuts, followed by Transportation with 42,279, Health Care/Products with 35,637, Consumer Products with 28,574, and Services with 26,778.
2026-09-03