US Job Cuts Rise in August

According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C) Job Cut Announcement Report released on Thursday, US-based employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August, a 58% increase from July’s 33,429. However, this marks the lowest level for the month of August since 2022. Year-over-year, announced cuts were down 38% from 85,979 in August 2025.

So far this year, companies have announced 529,914 job cuts, the lowest January-to-August total since 2022, when 179,506 were reported. This is down 41% from the 892,362 cuts announced through the first eight months of last year. Excluding the government sector, announced cuts were down 15%, at 507,685 compared with 597,089 through August 2025.

CG&C reported that cuts occurred in consumer products, food, technology, financial, telecommunications, government, transportation, and media. Consumer products led all sectors in August with 10,057 cuts, followed by food producers with 7,982 and technology with 6,103.

Hiring Plans

Employers announced plans to add 12,325 jobs in August, up 725% from 1,494 a year earlier and the highest August total since 2022. The total was down 23% from 16,095 planned hires in July.

So far this year, employers plan to add 119,825 jobs, up 37% from the 87,626 announced through the first eight months of 2025.