| Actual | Previous | |
|---|---|---|
| Level | 38,792 | 57,727 |
Highlights
The Challenger report on layoff intentions in December shows 38,792 announcements, down 32.8 percent from the prior month but up 11.4 percent from a year ago. For all of 2024, total layoff intentions are 761,358, up from 721,677 in 2023 and the highest since the pandemic-driven rise in 2020 to 2,304,755. Outside the pandemic, it is the highest since 2009 when 1,288,030 job cuts were announced.
In 2024, the industry with the largest number of job cuts is technology at 133,988. While this is down from 168,032 in technology in 2023, it is still over twice the size of the next largest number of cuts for health care and products at 51,588 in 2024 compared to 58,560 in 2023.
Overall, layoff intentions are the lowest month in 2024 except for 25,885 in July. At a time of uncertainty, most industries are holding on to workers if they can in the likelihood that these would be more costly and hard to replace at a later date. Among reasons given for cutting jobs in December, 17,604 are for market or economic conditions, or 45.3 percent of the total. Other reasons widely cited include 9,445 in closing, or 24.3 percent of the total.
Hiring intentions are down 31.2 percent in December to 7,999 from November, but up 164.7 percent from December 2023. The largest number of hiring intentions in December is 1,500 in technology. This suggests that some businesses may be hoping to pick up skilled workers laid off by other companies.
In 2024, the industry with the largest number of job cuts is technology at 133,988. While this is down from 168,032 in technology in 2023, it is still over twice the size of the next largest number of cuts for health care and products at 51,588 in 2024 compared to 58,560 in 2023.
Overall, layoff intentions are the lowest month in 2024 except for 25,885 in July. At a time of uncertainty, most industries are holding on to workers if they can in the likelihood that these would be more costly and hard to replace at a later date. Among reasons given for cutting jobs in December, 17,604 are for market or economic conditions, or 45.3 percent of the total. Other reasons widely cited include 9,445 in closing, or 24.3 percent of the total.
Hiring intentions are down 31.2 percent in December to 7,999 from November, but up 164.7 percent from December 2023. The largest number of hiring intentions in December is 1,500 in technology. This suggests that some businesses may be hoping to pick up skilled workers laid off by other companies.
Definition
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.
Description
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.
