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Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

Were announced layoffs in October 2025 the highest for any October in more than two decades?

Keshav Srikant, Econofact
yes

Announced job cuts in October 2025 were higher than any October since 2003, according to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas.

Employers based in the U.S. announced 153,074 job cuts in October 2025 and 171,874 job cuts in October 2003. The number of layoffs in October 2025 represented a 175% increase from October 2024, and a 183% increase from September 2025. This was also the largest number of layoffs in a single month since the fourth quarter of 2008. 

Challenger uses announced job cuts as its measure, which may differ from the number of layoffs that actually occur. Furthermore, the civilian labor force was about 146 million in 2003 and around 170 million in 2025. However, even as a percentage of the civilian labor force, the October 2025 layoffs remain the highest since 2003, based on Econofact’s calculations.

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