Layoff announcements in the U.S. dropped last month to their lowest point in four years, fresh labor market data shows, underscoring the economy’s continued resilience even as hiring slows.
Employers disclosed 52,881 planned job cuts in August, a 38% decline from the 85,979 cuts announced in the same month last year, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. For the year through August, companies have announced nearly 530,000 layoffs, down 41% from the comparable period in 2025 and marking the lowest eight-month total since 2022.
Still, the pullback in layoffs has not translated into a strong rebound in hiring, as many employers appear cautious about adding workers.
“What we’d like to see with low layoffs is an increase in hiring activity,” Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer and workplace expert, said in a statement. “While companies are making plans to hire more workers than last year, according to our numbers, it doesn’t appear those positions are being filled quickly.”
The U.S. unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% in July, but overall job growth turned negative, with employers cutting 23,000 positions.
Consumer products companies accounted for the largest share of August layoffs, eliminating more than 10,000 jobs, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. The food sector and technology firms followed with the second- and third-highest totals for the month.
Across the first eight months of 2026, technology companies have announced more layoffs than any other industry, with more than 155,000 cuts, the firm found. Artificial intelligence was not cited as a primary force behind those reductions; restructuring ranked as the top reason, followed by market and economic pressures.
