Mar 7, 2024,07:30am EST
American employers implemented over 84,000 job cuts in February, as revealed by a recent report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday. This marks 2024 as experiencing the highest number of second-month job cuts since 2009.
KEY FACTS According to the report, a total of 84,638 individuals were laid off by U.S.-based employers in February. This figure reflects an increase of nearly 9% from the job cuts announced in February 2023 and represents the highest February total since 2009.
Despite the stark numbers for February, the combined job cuts for January and February show a 7.6% decrease from the first two months of 2023, declining from 180,713 to 166,945.
The technology sector leads in job cuts this year with 28,218, followed by financial firms cutting 26,856 jobs. Interestingly, the finance industry has seen a 56% increase in job losses compared to last year, while job cuts in the tech industry have decreased by 55%.
While the number of cuts is significantly lower in proportion, other sectors have experienced substantial increases in job losses this year. Industrial manufacturing has cut 7,806 jobs (up 1,754% from last year), energy companies cut 4,486 (up 1,059%), and the education sector saw 6,336 cuts (up 944%).
Companies cited “restructuring” as the primary reason for job losses so far this year (37,659 cuts), followed by store, unit, or plant closures (26,272) and cost-cutting (20,890).
WHAT TO WATCH FOR Last month, U.S. employers announced plans to hire 10,317 workers, exceeding the 5,376 workers planned for January but significantly lower than the annual average so far. This year’s slowdown marks the smallest year-to-date total for announced hirings since 2009.
TANGENT Major companies have announced job cut plans this year, including Citi (20,000 jobs), UPS (12,000 layoffs), and PayPal (2,500 job losses by year-end). In February, Cisco attributed the cutting of about 4,250 jobs (5% of its workforce) to decreased corporate tech spending. Additionally, online travel agency Expedia announced 1,500 job cuts due to a decline in travel demand, while electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian laid off over 1,000 workers, marking its third round of layoffs in three years. Several companies, including online payments platform Melio and fantasy sports video game company Sorare, have announced layoffs this month, as reported by TechCrunch.
BIG NUMBER The media industry has seen 4,685 job cuts this year, down 52% from the same period in 2023. However, the broadcast, digital, and print news sector experienced a 94% increase in job cuts compared to last year, losing 1,754 jobs in January and February. News agencies such as the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Time magazine, and Sports Illustrated have announced job cuts.
CONTRA Despite layoffs and slow hiring, American unemployment remains low, standing at 3.7% from December through February, according to the latest jobs report, below estimates of 3.8%.