New Delhi: In a lull in the layoff season, a new report revealed that US jobs fell by 49 percent in June, a seven-month low, indicating that the worst may be over. According to a report by career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. US-based employers announced 40,709 layoffs in June, down 49 percent from the 80,089 cuts announced in May.
That’s up 25 percent from the 32,517 reported in the same month a year ago, a report said. Despite the drop, June’s total marks the sixth time this year that cuts were higher than the month a year ago
“Employers have announced 458,209 cuts so far this year, a 244 percent increase from the 133,211 cuts announced through June 2022,” the report noted. This is the highest first-half total since 2020 when 1,585,047 cuts were recorded.
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Excluding 2020, this is the highest January through June since 2009, when 896,675 job cuts were announced.
“It’s not uncommon for cuts to be lower during the summer months,” says Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger at Gray & Christmas. In fact, June is historically the slowest month for announcements on average.”
It’s also possible that inflation and interest rates won’t lead to the deep job losses predicted, especially as the Fed rates, he added. Companies announced 187,793 cuts in the second quarter, up 142 percent from the 77,715 cuts announced in the second quarter of 2022.
This is down 31 percent from the 270,416 cuts announced in the previous quarter. Technology led the way in job layoff announcements this year with 141,516 job cuts, up 2,353 percent from the 5,769 layoffs announced during the same period last year.
Retail companies in the U.S. announced the second-most job cuts this year with 48,212, a 718 percent increase from the 5,896 cuts announced in the sector during the same period last year.
Services firms announced 31,820 layoffs in the first half of the year, 163 percent more than the 12,081 cuts announced in the same period in 2022. “Cuts in service firms may reflect the cost reductions many firms are moving to prepare for an economic downturn,” Challenger said.
The media industry saw 18,836 layoffs this year. 2,091 of these were digital, broadcast and print news. U.S. employers announced plans to add 115,462 positions so far in 2023, the lowest first-half total since 2016, when 76,751 new hires were recorded, the report said.
