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US: Challenger Job-Cut Report
| Actual | Previous | |
| Level | 48,307 | 108,135 |
Highlights
Job cut intentions total 48,307 in February, a decline of 55.3 percent from 108,135 in January and down 71.9 percent from 172,017 in February 2025. While job cut intentions are present in most industries, the largest share reflects ongoing restructuring in the tech sector. There are 11,039 job cut intentions in February in technology, or 22.9 percent of the total. Among reasons cited for job cuts in technology, 10,736 are attributed to AI and 1,007 to automation with technology.
February job cut plans were made before the start of war with Iran. The war will add to economic uncertainty and price volatility, particularly for energy products. Job cut intentions may be for layoffs, cutting open positions, and/or reducing future plans to hire. Not all job cuts take place immediately and plans can change along with economic conditions.
Hiring intentions rose 140.4 percent in February to 12,755 from 5,306 in January and are up 23.6 percent compared to 34,580 in February 2025. Overall, hiring intentions remain soft. The February increase is mostly from 8,300 in automotive which accounts for 65.1 percent of the total.
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.
