In January, the number of layoffs by US companies increased by 118% year-on-year, reaching a new high since 2009.

Data released by a US career transition consulting firm shows that the number of layoffs announced by US companies in January this year reached the highest level for the same period since the most severe phase of the economic recession in 2009.

A report released by the executive career transition consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, USA on Thursday (February 5th) shows that US companies announced layoffs of 108,435 people last month, a year-on-year increase of 118%. The report also indicates that the number of recruitment intentions by enterprises decreased by 13% to 5,306, marking the weakest January performance for the firm since it began keeping records in 2009.

Bloomberg quoted the company's chief revenue officer, Andy Challenger, as saying: "Typically, we see more layoffs in the first quarter, but this is a very high total for January. This means that most of these plans were made by the end of 2025, indicating that employers are not optimistic about the outlook for 2026."

The report states that the three main reasons for companies to announce layoffs last month were: loss of contracts, economic conditions, and restructuring.

Among the layoffs announced in January, nearly half were related to three companies - Amazon, UPS and Dow Chemical. Amazon stated that it would reduce 16,000 company positions through restructuring; UPS said it would lay off up to 30,000 employees.

Dow plans to cut approximately 4,500 jobs; Peloton Interactive Inc. and Nike have also announced layoffs.

These data further reveal signs of the fragility of the labor market: the overall number of layoffs is relatively small and recruitment is weak, causing unease among consumers. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials believe that "there are some stable signs of a decline in the unemployment rate".