Challenger Report: US Job Cuts Hit January High Not Seen Since 2009

U.S.-based companies reported 108,435 job cuts last month, up 118% from January 2025 and the highest total job cuts for the month of January since 2009, according to the January Challenger Report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Job cuts were up 205% from December.

“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,” says Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”

The transportation industry reported the highest number of job cuts in January (31,243), followed by technology (22,291), health care/products (17,107) and the chemical industry (4,701).

The top five reasons cited for January job cuts were:

• Contract loss (30,784)
• Market and economic conditions (28,392)
• Restructuring (20,044)
• Closing (12,736)
• Artificial intelligence (7,624)

“It’s difficult to say how big an impact AI is having on layoffs specifically,” says Challenger. “We know leaders are talking about AI, many companies want to implement it in operations and the market appears to be rewarding companies that mention it.”

Companies announced 5,306 hiring plans in January, the lowest total for the month since tracking began in 2009 and down 49% from December’s 10,496 hiring plans.