Job losses at U.S.-based employers spiked in August to a five-month high of just over 75,000 cut positions for the month, a signal of economic uncertainty and a softening labor market, according to a new report from career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Signage with logo at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Cisco in San Jose, California on Aug. 17, ... [+]
The number of job cuts in August was a 193% jump from those announced in July, and the highest single-month level since March.
With the exclusion of 2020, last month was the August with the most job cuts since August of 2009, when 76,456 layoffs were recorded.
Overall, 536,421 jobs cuts have been announced so far this year, down 3.7% from the same time in 2023.
The technology sector led the month in cuts, as it has much of the year, with 39,563 in August, a reflection of what firm senior vice president Andrew Challenger says demonstrates the industry's shift from growth and innovation focus to profitability and efficiency.
Tech firms like Cisco, Intel, Scale AI and Infineon, among others, all announced job cuts last month.
The education sector is responsible for the second-highest number of cuts so far this year with 25,396—222% higher than had been announced through August of last year—followed by the entertainment/leisure industry (21,686 in 2024) and industrial manufacturing (17,828 cuts through August).
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Nearly 80,000. That's how many employees companies have announced plans to hire so far this year, down 41% from the 135,980 recorded through August last year and the lowest year-to-date total since Challenger began tracking in 2005.
The cuts announced in August, combined with the relative lack of hiring plans and job turnover data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday, points to signs “the labor market overall is softening,” Challenger said. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey found that job openings fell to their lowest level in more than three years in July and brought the ratio of job openings per available worker down to less than 1.1. The lower number of openings and rising unemployment has made it harder for jobseekers to find work—fueling fears of a recession—Federal Reserve officials are expected to lower interest rates when they meet later this month, which could encourage more hiring by lowering borrowing costs.