Companies have cut more than 1 million jobs so far this year, a consulting firm said Thursday, citing restructuring, artificial intelligence and economic factors such as tariffs as the key drivers of layoffs.
The Challenger, Gray and Christmas consulting firm tabulated 71,321 job cuts in November.
While that is down from the 153,074 cuts announced in October, year-to-date layoffs have reached 1.17 million.
It is only the sixth time since 1993 that layoffs have exceeded 1.1 million, and the first time since 2020, when job cuts skyrocketed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008,” said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Economic upheaval and layoffs pose mounting challenges for the Trump administration and other policymakers, who are trying to help voters and constituents afford everyday goods and services while navigating significant economic changes
The consultancy identified restructuring, including store and department closings, as the top driver of layoffs in November. Restructuring spurred 20,217 layoffs for the month and a total of 128,255 for 2025.
Companies cited AI for 6,280 cuts in November, or 54,694 for the year, as recent college graduates worry that robots and computer programs will displace them in programming jobs and other positions.
Tariffs were cited for 7,908 job cuts this year, with 2,061 of those occurring in November.
President Trump fully implemented his framework of tariffs, or duties on foreign goods brought to the U.S., in late summer. He says the levies will spur investment in American factories and jobs, as made-in-America products will not face tariffs, and foreign nations will agree to investments in exchange for lower tariff rates.
Some companies have sued over the tariffs, saying they force them to eat new costs or pass price increases onto consumers.
The situation placed a twin burden on the Federal Reserve, which must balance worries about stubborn price inflation and the employment situation outlined in the Challenger report and official federal reports, which have shown a slowdown in hiring.
Market-watchers expect the Fed to issue a third straight rate cut at its Dec. 9-10 meeting.
Investors are taking a mixed approach to the jobs situation.
On the one hand, negative reports put downward pressure on Wall Street stocks. Still, the hiring slowdown argues in favor of a rate cut, causing shares to rebound.
Major indexes toggled between positive and negative territory after a negative payroll report from ADP on Wednesday and the Challenger release on Thursday.
Also Thursday, the U.S. reported that weekly jobless claims were only 191,000 versus a forecasted 220,000, the lowest since 2022.
“While this weekly series is inherently volatile — especially around holiday weeks like Thanksgiving — this drop will still attract attention to see whether this is a durable trend or just seasonal noise masking a cooling labor market,” Mohamed A. El-Erian, a part-time chief economic adviser at Allianz, said on X.
Mr. Trump and his team expect their program of tariffs, tax cuts and deregulation to lead to an economic boom in 2026. They point to the construction of major manufacturing facilities and larger tax refunds in 2026 as reasons for economic optimism.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently said the government shutdown was a speed bump for the economy in recent weeks, but companies will regroup.
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