Year-to-date layoffs are at their highest level since 2020, according to new Challenger data.
New data show that while employers handed out fewer pink slips in September than in August—when the number was at a five-month high—layoffs were up significantly compared to a year ago.
According to recruitment firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, U.S.-based employers announced nearly 73,000 job cuts in September. While this was down by 4 percent from the previous month’s 75,891, the layoffs were up by 53 percent from last year.
In the first nine months of 2024, personnel reductions rose by 0.8 percent year-over-year, to 609,242, surpassing in September the prior year’s running tally for the first time this year. This is the highest level since 2020, when more than 2 million layoffs were announced between January and September.
