US layoff plans nudge up 2% in October, still the calmest fall since 2023

US employers announced 43,994 job cuts in October, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday. That's up 2% from September, but down a hefty 71% from October 2025. It marks the lightest October for layoff announcements since 2023 — and the eighth month this year in which planned cuts came in below the same month a year earlier.

Zoom out and the trend looks even softer. Companies have announced 617,189 cuts through the first ten months of 2026, down 44% from the same stretch last year. That's the lowest January-to-October tally since 2022, per the outplacement firm's report.

Chief Revenue Officer Andy Challenger described a labor market content to sit still rather than shed staff. Companies are holding on to the workers they already have as the holidays approach, he said. The hiring they are announcing, he added, is mostly short-term and seasonal.

The seasonal picture is a little contradictory. Announced seasonal hiring plans climbed 26%, even though fewer companies said they plan to bring on holiday workers. Amazon drove the spike, with plans to add more than 300,000 workers across its US operations for the holiday rush.

Take the two numbers together and the story is a cautious one: fewer pink slips, but the new jobs being dangled skew temporary. Employers are staffing up for the seasonal crush while keeping their permanent headcount steady into year-end.