US Employers Cut 28% More Jobs In January: Challenger Report

(RTTNews) - Employers in the U.S. slashed more jobs in January compared to December, but the figure was the lowest recorded for the month in three years, the latest monthly report from the global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc showed on Thursday.

The Challenger report showed that 49,795 jobs were cut in January, up 28 percent from the 38,792 announced in December. However, the figure was 40 percent less than the 82,307 cuts announced in January 2024.

This is the lowest January job cut total since 2022, when 19,064 cuts were recorded for the month, which was also a record low for the month.

"January was relatively quiet in terms of job cut announcements," Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc, said.

"However, we've already seen major announcements in the early days of February, so it seems this quiet is unlikely to last."

The technology sector continued to lead all sectors slashing jobs. In January, 7,488 tech jobs were lost, up 128 percent from December.

Technology has been the leading industry for job cuts since 2022, and the tech sector have announced 406,679 layoffs, including January's total, the report said.

Disruption caused by AI integration was the main reason behind job shedding in the tech sector. The retail industry followed with 6,419 job cuts in January, up 96 percent from December and also a 20 percent increase over the same month a year ago.

"The Retail job has fundamentally changed, and with automation and online shopping, these positions require different skills than ten years ago," Challenger said.

Job losses in the services sector were up 106 percent from the previous month and those in the automotive industry rose 90 percent. The media sector shed 27 percent more jobs than in December.

Closures was the reason for the highest number of layoffs in January, followed by restructuring efforts, the report said.

Hiring plans among U.S. employers decreased 24 percent from December, the report said. They planned to hire 6,089 workers in January, which was 13 percent higher than that in the same month last year. The highest number of announcements came from technology and automotive sectors, who were also two of the largest job cutters.