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).

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.

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