Job Cuts Hit 4-Year Low but September Hiring Plummets
September job cuts fell, but hiring plans were the least for the month since 2011.
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- US Challenger Job Cuts (Year-over-Year) September: -19.9% (est -20.0%; prev -38.5%)
- US Challenger Job Cuts Total: 43,281 (prev 52,881)
Executive Summary
- September job cuts fell 18% month-over-month to 43,281, down 19.9% year-over-year and the lowest total for the month since 2022.
- Year-to-date cuts of 573,195 are down 39% from last year, but excluding Government — where DOGE drove last year’s totals — the decline is a more modest 15%.
- For the second straight month, artificial intelligence did not lead the reasons list. Grouping all economic conditions-related reasons together, they made up 78% of September’s cuts, the highest monthly share since at least March.
- Technology again led sectors in job cuts with 10,799, though that was below its 2026 monthly average of 18,436.
- Hiring plans rose to 90,787 as seasonal announcements began, but that was the weakest September since 2011, and the year-to-date lead over 2025 has narrowed to 3% from 37% through the prior month. For context, 2025 was the lowest full-year hiring total since 2010.
September Job Cuts
US-based employers announced 43,281 job cuts in September, down 18% from August’s 52,881 and down 19.9% from the 54,064 announced in the same month last year. It is the lowest September total since 2022, when 29,989 cuts were recorded, and the seventh month this year to come in below its year-earlier figure.
Year-to-date, employers have announced 573,195 cuts, down 39% from the 946,426 announced through September 2025 and the lowest January-to-September total since 2022, when 209,495 layoff plans were announced. That year-over-year total comparison though is still badly distorted by last year’s federal workforce reductions, and Challenger, Gray & Christmas now publishes the cleaner version alongside it: excluding the Government sector, cuts are down a more modest 15%, at 550,185 versus 646,671.
For the third-quarter, layoff plans totaled 129,591, down 43% from the 226,242 in the second quarter and down 36% from the 202,118 announced in the third quarter of last year.
Industries
- Technology again led all sectors with 10,799 cuts, up 77% from August’s 6,103. The sector has announced 165,925 cuts this year, up 54% from 107,878, and accounts for 29% of all 2026 job cuts — more than any other industry. Even leading the month, though, Technology ran well below its own 2026 monthly average of 18,436.
- Food producers announced 7,326, the second straight month above 7,000, for 29,693 year-to-date, up 76% from 16,835. Washington orchards and agricultural employers accounted for 5,396 of the month’s cuts, all filed through WARN notices citing a downturn in demand.
- Non-Profit announced 4,742, the third-most of any industry and the sector’s highest monthly total of 2026, up from 672 in September 2025. Year-to-date stands at 16,531, still down 28% from 22,823d.
- Services announced 3,306 for 30,084 year-to-date, down 51% from 61,590. Contract losses accounted for 1,116 of the month.
- Transportation announced 2,151 but remains second year-to-date at 44,430, up 190% from 15,329.
- Health Care/Products announced 1,780 for 37,417 year-to-date, now down 6% from 39,917.
Twenty-one of the 30 industries Challenger tracks have announced fewer cuts than at this point last year. The steepest declines are Government, down 92% (reflecting the DOGE base effect noted above); Retail at 14,434, down 83% from 86,233; Warehousing at 19,881, down 53%; and Telecommunications at 7,446, down 64%. The increases are concentrated in Technology, up 54%; Transportation, up 190%; FinTech at 7,806, up 331%; and Food, up 76%.
Why Companies Are Cutting
Market and Economic Conditions led all reasons in September with 8,789 cuts, or 20% of the month, followed by Closings at 7,719, Demand Downturn at 6,515 — the highest monthly total for that reason since February 2023, when 7,770 cuts were cited — and Restructuring at 6,243.
Artificial intelligence was only the fifth-most cited reason, continuing a softening seen in August after leading most of the March – July period, at 3,961, about 9% of the month. It has been cited in 120,136 announcements this year, roughly 21% of all cuts.
Grouping every economic conditions-related reason together though — market and economic conditions, closings, restructuring, contract loss, demand downturn, bankruptcy and financial loss — produces 33,917 cuts in September, or 78% of the month, and 368,079 year-to-date, or 64%. That 78% is the highest monthly share since at least March. Artificial intelligence ran between 25% and 40% of monthly cuts from March through July but has been under 10% in both August and September.
Two new reason categories appeared in September: Loss of Federal Contract at 563 and Outsourcing at 557. DOGE Actions remain at zero new cuts since September 2025, holding at 293,753 cumulative, and DOGE Downstream Impact added nothing after two months of increases, holding at 1,771 year-to-date. Tariffs remain at 331, unchanged since April.
State-By-State
California still leads year-to-date at 114,818, versus 144,528 a year ago, including 9,920 in September. Washington has moved up to second at 52,313 versus 37,550, on 10,680 of September cuts — the largest September total of any state. Texas follows at 46,098, Georgia at 41,952 and Michigan at 33,627.
Looking at the year-over-year change rather than level Michigan has seen the biggest increase, up 19,498, followed by Washington 14,763, Georgia 10,613 and Tennessee 9,146, while Oregon, Massachusetts, Illinois and South Carolina each added between 3,800 and 5,200.
The declines are larger and concentrated in the Northeast and Washington, D.C. The latter is down 287,028, at 11,873 versus 298,901, essentially the entire DOGE base effect. New York is down 47,721, New Jersey 33,386, California 29,710, Ohio 21,907 and Arizona 11,381.
Hiring Plans
Employers announced plans to hire 90,787 workers in September as seasonal announcements began, up from 12,325 in August. That was still down 23% from the 117,313 announced in September 2025 and the lowest September total since 2011, when 76,551 hiring plans were recorded. Seasonal hiring is notably muted: Spirit Halloween and Michaels announced a combined 62,000 seasonal hires, against 100,800 last September.
Year-to-date hiring of 210,612 is up just 3% from the 204,939 announced through September 2025 — a sharp narrowing from the 37% lead it held through August, with the lighter seasonal season closing most of the gap. For context, 2025’s full-year total of 507,647 was the lowest since 2010.
Retail led all industries in September with 65,150 announced hires, followed by Aerospace/Defense at 5,300 and Utility at 4,200. Year-to-date, Retail leads at 66,557, still down from 96,700 a year ago, followed by Technology at 22,361 versus 7,070 and Aerospace/Defense at 21,841 versus 5,186.
“Hiring plans are up over the year, but we’re not seeing the surge of hiring plans that come with the holiday season, which suggests a very cautious approach,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
All charts are built from or included in the Challenger, Gray & Christmas release, available here.
