US employers have announced 32,826 hiring plans in March 2026, much higher than 12,755 in February and up 149% from the 13,198 hiring plans in March 2025. So far this year, employers have announced plans to hire 50,887 workers, down 6% from 53,867 new hires announced during the same period in 2025. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Hiring Plans Announcements in the United States averaged 88389.62 Persons from 2011 until 2026, reaching an all time high of 939790.00 Persons in September of 2021 and a record low of 1494.00 Persons in August of 2025. This page includes a chart with historical data for the United States Hiring Plans Announcements. United States Challenger Hiring Plans Announcements - values, historical data and charts - was last updated on April of 2026.

Related	Last	Previous	Unit	Reference
ADP Employment Change	62.00	66.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM	0.20	0.40	percent	Mar 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY	3.50	3.80	percent	Mar 2026
Average Weekly Hours	34.20	34.30	Hours	Mar 2026
Challenger Job Cuts	60620.00	48307.00	Persons	Mar 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims	1818.00	1787.00	Thousand	Apr 2026
Employed Persons	162848.00	162912.00	Thousand	Mar 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	59.20	59.30	percent	Mar 2026
Full Time Employment	134676.00	134341.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Government Payrolls	-8.00	-4.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans	32826.00	12755.00	Persons	Mar 2026
Initial Jobless Claims	207.00	218.00	Thousand	Apr 2026
Job Layoffs and Discharges	1721.00	1660.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
JOLTs Job Openings	6882.00	7240.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
JOLTs Job Quits	2974.00	3137.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
Job Quits Rate	1.90	2.00	Percent	Feb 2026
Job Openings	6649.00	7377.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
Jobless Claims 4-week Average	209.75	209.25	Thousand	Apr 2026
Participation Rate	61.90	62.00	percent	Mar 2026
Labour Costs	122.55	121.72	points	Dec 2025
Long Term Unemployment Rate	1.07	1.11	percent	Mar 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls	15.00	-6.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Minimum Wages	7.25	7.25	USD/Hour	Dec 2025
Non Farm Payrolls	178.00	-133.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private	186.00	-129.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Nonfarm Productivity	1.80	5.20	percent	Dec 2025
Part Time Employment	28290.00	28478.00	Thousand	Mar 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	8.00	7.90	percent	Mar 2026
Unemployed Persons	7239.00	7571.00	Thousand	Mar 2026
Unemployment Rate	4.30	4.40	percent	Mar 2026
Unit Labour Costs	4.40	1.00	percent	Dec 2025
Wage Growth	4.26	4.59	percent	Feb 2026
Wages	32.07	32.02	USD/Hour	Mar 2026
Wages in Manufacturing	29.95	29.82	USD/Hour	Mar 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate	8.50	9.50	percent	Mar 2026

United States Challenger Hiring Plans Announcements

The Challenger Job-Cut Report provides information on the total number of announced corporate layoffs. Produced by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., this monthly report collects and categorizes announcements of corporate layoffs using mass layoff data from state departments of labor.