Announced job cuts by US employers fell in June to an eight-month low, representing a pause in this year’s flurry of planned dismissals.
(Bloomberg) — Announced job cuts by US employers fell in June to an eight-month low, representing a pause in this year’s flurry of planned dismissals.
There were 40,709 planned job cuts, according to data released Thursday by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
While down by nearly a half from May, dismissals were still more than 25% higher than in June 2022 and bring the total this year to 458,209 — the worst first-half since 2020.
“The drop in cuts is not unusual for the summer months,” Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.
“In fact, June is historically the slowest month on average for announcements. It is also possible that the deep job losses predicted due to inflation and interest rates will not come to pass.”
In technology, job-cut announcements totaled 4,685 in June, down sharply from 22,887 a month earlier.
Still, tech leads all industries with more than 141,500 announced reductions so far this year, the second-most ever for the sector. Retail companies and financial firms have also indicated big reductions in payrolls.
The top reason for workforce reductions is market and economic conditions, accounting for nearly half of job cuts announced this year.
Meanwhile, in the first half, employers announced plans to add nearly 115,500 positions.
That marks the fewest since 2016.
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