The Challenger layoff report for January shows a surge in layoff activity, up 136.4 percent to 82,307 after 34,817 in December, but down 20.0 percent from 102,943 in January 2023. The Challenger report said that many companies are entering 2024 with anticipation of stable prices, falling interest rates, and changes in government policy in an election year. Over a third of all companies cited restructuring as the main reason for layoffs (28,329). Nearly half of all planned layoffs are in two sectors. There are 23,238 planned layoffs in financial industries and 15,806 in technology.

It should be remembered that in addition to immediate plans for layoffs, these announcements also include plans for weeks or months even years in advance. Some of these are elimination of currently open jobs, some of these are job cuts that never take place due to changing circumstances. Some involve voluntary separations with severance packages.

Hiring intentions are up 77.9 percent in January, but only to a soft 5,376 after 3,022 in December, and down 83.6 percent from 32,764 in January. Nearly half of all hiring plans are in two categories. Both energy and automotive are up 1,200 in January. These are overall meager announcements that suggest the hiring boom is indeed over.

This monthly report counts and categorizes announcements of corporate layoffs based on mass layoff data from state departments of labor. The job-cut report must be analyzed with caution. It doesn't distinguish between layoffs scheduled for the short-term or the long term, or whether job cuts are handled through attrition or actual layoffs. Also, the job-cut report does not include jobs eliminated in small batches over a longer time period. Unlike most economic data, this series is not adjusted for seasonal variation.

The job-cut report is basically a rehash of the weekly jobless claims report but provides additional insight into where layoffs are occurring. There is industry and geographic (states) detail that is not available with weekly jobless claims.