U.S. Employers Announce Record January Layoffs Amid Economic Uncertainty

On February 5, Jin10 reported that U.S. employers announced a significant increase in layoffs in January, reaching the highest level for the month in 17 years due to reduced business contracts and economic uncertainty. According to Jin10, employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed that planned layoffs surged by 118% year-on-year to 108,435, marking the highest January figure since the end of the global recession in 2009. Andy Challenger, the company's Chief Revenue Officer, noted that while layoffs are typically higher in the first quarter, the total for January was notably high. He explained that these layoff plans were mostly formulated by the end of 2025, indicating employers' pessimism about the outlook for 2026. The transportation sector saw the largest increase in layoffs, with plans related to United Parcel Service accounting for 31,243 job cuts. The technology sector announced 22,291 layoffs, with Amazon planning to reduce its corporate workforce by 16,000. Additionally, the healthcare industry experienced significant planned layoffs, partly due to reduced reimbursements from federally funded Medicaid and Medicare insurance programs.