Layoff announcements in the United States have surged to their highest level since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly 1.2 million job cuts announced in 2025, according to data released by the outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas. This dramatic rise in planned workforce reductions marks only the sixth time since 1993 that job-cut announcements have exceeded 1.1 million through November, a threshold last crossed in 2020 when the pandemic’s economic shock led to 2.3 million layoffs by this point in the year, as reported by NBC News.
In November alone, U.S.-based employers announced 71,321 job cuts. While this figure is lower than October’s total, it is notably higher than the number recorded in November 2024 and represents the steepest tally for the month since 2022. Andy Challenger, the chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas, emphasized the rarity of such high November numbers, stating, “November job cut announcements have topped 70,000 only twice since 2008 — in 2022 and 2008.”
Several sectors have been hit particularly hard. The technology, food production, and telecommunications industries led the way in announced layoffs last month. Verizon, one of the nation’s largest telecom providers, revealed plans to eliminate 13,000 positions in November alone. This wave of reductions is emblematic of the broader economic uncertainty facing American workers, with even iconic retail locations like Walgreens in San Francisco shuttering their doors, symbolizing the gravity of the situation across the country, as highlighted by BizzBuzz News.
What’s behind these sweeping cuts? The Challenger report, which tracks only publicly announced workforce reductions—many of which have yet to take effect—typically garners modest attention from economists and market watchers. However, this month, its data has taken on outsized importance. A government shutdown has sidelined employees at federal statistical agencies, including those at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), delaying the release of several key economic indicators. As a result, markets, lawmakers, and the Federal Reserve are relying more heavily on private-sector data to gauge the state of the labor market until federal operations resume. The next BLS employment report is not expected until December 16, 2025.
“This report comes in the midst of an historic data void created by the government shutdown,” noted NBC News. With official statistics on hold, the Challenger data has become one of the few available signposts for understanding employment trends in real time. The report’s figures include not just domestic layoffs but also overseas cuts announced by multinational firms based in the U.S.
Additional private-sector data has painted a similarly sobering picture. The payroll processing company ADP reported a net loss of 32,000 private-sector jobs in November, with small businesses especially hard hit, shedding a staggering 120,000 positions. However, there was a glimmer of hope: weekly initial jobless claims, released shortly after the Challenger report, came in slightly better than expected, suggesting some resilience in parts of the labor market.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick addressed the troubling numbers during an appearance on CNBC on December 4, 2025. He argued that the weak jobs data was not the result of the administration’s tariff policy but rather the direct outcome of the government shutdown and recent deportations of undocumented immigrants. Lutnick predicted a turnaround, saying, “The labor market would ‘rebalance’ and that job numbers would improve significantly next year.”
Still, the broader economic picture has not gone unnoticed in Washington. In response to mounting pressures on consumers and employers, the Trump administration has recently taken steps to roll back some tariffs on food imports. This policy shift comes amid a steady rise in inflation since April 2025, when global reciprocal tariffs were implemented. According to NBC News, the administration’s moves are designed to ease the burden of rising prices and help stabilize the economy as it weathers this turbulent period.
The seasonal nature of hiring and layoffs adds another layer of complexity to interpreting these numbers. Analysts typically compare monthly data year over year rather than month to month, since hiring patterns are often influenced by the time of year. For example, while November’s layoff total was lower than October’s, it was still significantly higher than the same month in 2024 and the highest November figure since 2022. “Announced job cuts during the month of November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and 2008,” Andy Challenger reiterated.
The Challenger report’s inclusion of overseas job cuts for multinational corporations means that its headline figures may not correspond directly to layoffs actually taking place within the United States. Many of the announced reductions have not yet taken effect, but the scale of the announcements is nonetheless unsettling for workers and policymakers alike. The unprecedented pace of termination announcements in the past four months has drawn comparisons to the immediate aftermath of Covid-19 shutdowns, which upended the American workforce in 2020.
While the government shutdown and deportations have been cited by Commerce Secretary Lutnick as primary drivers of the recent weak job numbers, some economists and business leaders remain concerned about the underlying health of the labor market. The rapid escalation in layoff announcements, particularly in critical industries like technology and telecommunications, raises questions about the sustainability of growth and the ability of the economy to absorb such shocks.
Despite the gloom, there are voices of optimism. Lutnick’s prediction that “next year, the numbers are going to be fantastic” reflects a belief in the cyclical nature of the labor market and the potential for a rebound once federal data collection resumes and the effects of recent policy changes are felt. In the meantime, however, American workers and employers must navigate a landscape marked by uncertainty, with few reliable data points and a sense that the ground could shift again at any moment.
As the nation awaits the next official employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, scheduled for December 16, all eyes remain on private-sector data and the policy responses emerging from Washington. For now, the story of 2025’s labor market is one of upheaval, adaptation, and the search for clarity in an era defined by rapid change and persistent challenges.
