US employers announced 33,429 job cuts in July 2026, the lowest monthly total since July 2024, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Year-to-date layoffs are down 41% from 2025, while companies posted their strongest July hiring plans in four years. Technology still leads layoffs even as government-sector cuts have collapsed.
US employers announced 33,429 job cuts in July 2026, the lowest monthly total since July 2024, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That marks a 46% decline from July 2025 and a 27% drop from June.
Layoffs slow across the year
Year-to-date through July, employers announced 477,033 cuts, a 41% reduction from the 806,383 recorded over the same stretch in 2025.
Hiring plans point to renewed confidence
Firms announced 16,095 new hiring plans in July 2026, the highest volume for this month since 2022 and a 25% increase year-on-year.
Technology still leads cuts as AI reshapes the count
The technology sector remains the largest source of layoff announcements, accounting for 149,023 cuts year-to-date through July. That's roughly 31% of the national total and a 67% increase from the prior year. Transportation followed at a distant second with 41,748 cuts. AI was cited as a factor in roughly 24% to 33% of monthly job cuts through July, though restructuring has overtaken AI as the primary stated cause.
Government layoffs plunge more than 90%
Federal and public-sector cuts totaled just 20,752 through July 2026, compared to 292,294 during the same period in 2025, a decline of more than 90%. Strip out the public sector, however, and the year-over-year improvement in private-sector layoffs, while still meaningful, looks less dramatic than the headline figure suggests. Early data from August 2026 shows 52,881 announced cuts, higher than July's low but still consistent with a labor market that has settled into a calmer rhythm.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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