A report from employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. showed
Thursday that the U.S. businesses announced 66,995 job cuts in April, down 25.3
percent from the 89,703 layoffs announced in March. April’s reading was the lowest
since December 2022.
Year-to-date, U.S. employers announced intentions to cut 337,411 jobs,
the highest January-April total since 2020. The technology sector announced 35
percent of all job cuts this year.
According to the report, retail led all industries in April with 14,689
cuts, or 21.9 percent of all announced job cuts. From January through April, the
technology sector announced the largest number of job cuts (102,391, or 33.4
percent of all cuts). It was followed by the retail sector (36,115, or 10.7 percent
of all cuts), financial companies (33,356, or 9.9 percent of all cuts), and health
care/products companies (29,134, or 8.6 percent of all cuts). The services sector
announced 20,203 job cuts this year, or 6 percent of
all cuts.
Commenting on the latest report, Andrew Challenger, senior vice
president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., noted that April’s data
indicate that retailers and consumer goods manufacturers are preparing for a
tightening in consumer spending, particularly with the Fed’s hike to interest
rates in an attempt to control inflation. Likewise, financial companies - both traditional
and digital - are grappling with rate increases and the potential for lower
consumer spending, he added.