Feb. 5, 2026, 3:55 p.m. ET
In an omen of economic uncertainty ahead, U.S. companies laid off 108,435 workers in January, an increase of 205% from December. That’s the highest number of job cuts announced in any January since the Great Recession of 2009, according to a labor trend report released Feb. 5.
Layoffs in January 2026 were 118% higher than the 49,795 cuts announced in January 2025, according to the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The number of announced job cuts soared to more than 670,000 in April 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 shutdowns. But those were related to the pandemic, not regular business cycles.
How do layoffs compare?
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“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,” Andy Challenger said in a release accompanying his firm’s report.
Transportation accounted for 31,243 cuts, the most of any industry. Those reductions are connected to United Parcel Service, which announced in January that it plans to eliminate up to 30,000 jobs and shut 24 facilities in 2026 as it reduces deliveries for Amazon.
The technology industry was second in January cuts with 22,291 planned, most of them from Amazon, which said it would lay off 16,000 corporate employees.
The health care sector, companies and hospitals, was third with 17,107 cuts.
Which states were hit hardest hit by job losses?
Hiring plans remained lackluster, with 5,306 positions planned to be filled, the lowest total in January since Challenger started tracking the series in 2009, Reuters reported.
About 2,500 planned hires were in the insurance sector. Energy industries plan 430 hires and consumer products companies anticipate 415.
Why were jobs cut?
AI – artificial intelligence – was cited as the cause for 7,624 job cuts in January, Challenger said. “Since 2023, when this reason was first tracked, AI has been cited in 79,449 job cut announcements, 3% of all layoff plans announced in that period.”
Which industries cut the most jobs?
Because of the brief government shutdown in early January, the Labor Department’s payroll report, originally scheduled for Feb. 6, will be announced Feb. 11.
CONTRIBUTING Andrea Riquier
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Challenger, Gray & Christmas