US-based employers announced plans to hire 444,692 workers in October 2026, up 57% from the 283,138 plans announced in October 2025. It is the highest October total since at least 2009. Technology led all industries in October with 300,252 announced hires, followed by Transportation with 100,000 and Retail with 13,300. So far this year, companies have announced plans to hire 655,304 workers, up 34% from the 488,077 plans announced through October 2025. For the year, Technology leads with 322,613, followed by Transportation with 101,505 and Retail with 79,857. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Hiring Plans Announcements in the United States averaged 88314.30 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 November of 2026.

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 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.