According to a new report from coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, in February, American employers announced 77,000 layoffs, a 410% increase over the same month the year before.

The report, issued earlier this week showed that this February’s total was the highest seen going back to 2009, when there were 186,350 layoffs announced. However February’s total marked a 24% decrease from the 102,943 layoffs announced in January.

The report also showed that so far there have been 180,713 layoffs announced for the first two months of the year, an increase of 427% over the 34,309 cuts announced over the first two months of 2022. This year marked the highest January-February total since 2009.

Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of the company said, “Certainly, employers are paying attention to rate increase plans from the Fed. Many have been planning for a downturn for months, cutting costs elsewhere. If things continue to cool, layoffs are typically the last piece in company cost-cutting strategies.”

The report showed that technology companies were the most prolific job-cutters last month, cutting 21,387 jobs. The tech sector accounted for 35% of all job cuts in 2023.

Challenger added, “Right now, the overwhelming bulk of cuts are occurring in technology. Retail and financial are also cutting right now, as consumer spending matches economic conditions. In February, job cuts occurred in all 30 industries Challenger tracks.”

Meanwhile, as would be expected, the report showed hiring was down. In February, companies announced plans to hire only about 28,830 workers, which represented an 87% decline in that reading, year over year.

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