US Private Sector Job Cuts Drop in December
US employers announced 38,792 job cuts in December, a 33% drop from November’s 57,727, according to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. (CG&C) Job Cut Announcement Report released Thursday. However, this marks an 11% increase compared to the 34,817 cuts announced in December 2023.
In 2024Q4, companies announced plans to cut 152,116 jobs, down 13.0% from 174,597 in 2024Q3 but up 30% from 117,163 in 2023Q4.
In 2024, employers announced 761,358 job cuts, up 5.5% from 721,677 in 2023. That is the highest annual total since 2,304,755 cuts were announced in 2020. Except for 2020, it is the highest total since 2009, when employers planned 1,288,030.
According to CG&C, December’s job cuts were widespread, with the technology sector experiencing the highest number, followed by utilities and energy, apparel, transportation, industrial manufacturing, education, entertainment and leisure, consumer products, government, automobile, and media and news.
In December, US employers announced plans to hire 7,999 workers, bringing the total hiring plans for the year to 769,953. This represents a 1.3% decrease from the 780,123 hiring plans recorded in 2023 and marks the lowest annual total since 2015, when 690,751 hiring plans were announced.
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