Overview
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that U.S. employers announced 97,006 job cuts in May, a 16% rise from April and the highest May total since 2020.
- For the third month in a row firms named artificial intelligence as the top stated reason for layoffs, with 38,579 cuts tied to AI and roughly 40% of May’s total.
- The Technology sector accounted for the largest share of reductions with 38,242 cuts in May and 123,653 so far in 2026, even as tech also led May hiring plans.
- Transportation saw a sharp surge with 6,909 cuts in May and 40,388 year-to-date, a major shift that made it the second-largest sector for announced reductions.
- Year-to-date announced cuts total 397,755, which is down from 2025 after large federal reductions then, and analysts say the pattern points to firms restructuring roles and budgets toward AI rather than a broad labor-market collapse.