The Challenger report on layoff intentions in November shows a small 3.8 percent increase to 57,727 after 55,597 in October and is up 26.8 percent from 45,510 in November 2023. The pace of layoff announcements is 722,566 for 2024 to-date compared to 686,860 in the same period in 2023.

The largest share of layoff plans in November is 11,506 in automotive (19.9 percent of the total) and 10,23 in technology (17.7 percent of the total). The Challenge report noted that both sectors are undergoing"significant" changes.

Among reasons cited for layoffs in November, the two largest are 22,762 in market/economic conditions (39.4 percent of the total) and 16,288 in closing (28.2 of the total). Together these account for two-thirds of all planned layoffs. Businesses are shuttering underperforming locations.

Hiring intentions are down sharply for a second month in a row in November as the surge related to temporary hiring for the winter holiday shopping period fades. In November, there are 11,621 hiring intentions, down 95.6 percent from 266,743 in October, and down 25.3 percent from 15,566 in November 2023. For the year-to-date, the number of intentions is down only slightly to 761,954 compared to 777,101 in the same period in 2023.

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.