Employers Announce 115,762 Job Cuts in August

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., a Chicago-based global outplacement and business executive coaching firm, job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers in August totaled 115,762. Year-over-year that is a 116% increase and the highest number of cuts tracked in a single year. On the positive side, August’s total is -56% lower than the 262,649 job cuts announced in July. So far this year, employers have announced 1,963.458 cuts, 231% higher than the 592,556 cuts tracked in January-August of 2019. Announced job cuts in 2020 have surpassed the previous record annual total of 1,956,876 recorded in 2001. The transportation job sector in August experienced the most cuts.