US Private Sector Job Cuts Slow in April

According to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. (CG&C) Job Cut Announcement Report released on Thursday, US-based employers announced 105,441 job cuts in April, down 62% from the 275,240 job cuts announced in March. However, April’s total was still 63% higher than the 64,789 cuts recorded a year earlier.

April’s figure marks the highest for the month since April 2020, when a record 671,129 job cuts were announced—the most in any month since CG&C began tracking data in 1989. Excluding that pandemic-driven spike, last month’s total was the highest April count since 2009, when 132,590 cuts were announced.

So far this year, employers have announced 602,493 job cuts—the highest year-to-date total since 2020, when the figure reached 1,017,812. This year’s total is up 87% from the 322,043 cuts announced during the same period in 2024.

CG&C noted that April’s cuts were broad-based, led by government, followed by the technology, retail, health care, and media sectors.

Hiring Plans

Employers’ hiring plans have increased compared to last year, according to CG&C. In April, companies announced plans to hire 16,191 workers, up 65% from 9,802 in April 2024. Year-to-date, hiring plans total 70,058—50% higher than the 46,597 announced during the same period last year.