Job cuts last month higher than any February since 2009

U.S.-based employers cut more jobs this February than in any February in 16 years, according to a new report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

This year, employers announced 172,017 job cuts — the most the shortest month has seen since 2009, when 186,350 jobs were cut. The total job cuts for February this year are more than double the 84,638 cuts announced in February 2024.

Last month also saw the most jobs losses of any month since July 2020, when 262,649 jobs were cut.

The year-to-date totals reveal a similar trend: 221,812 job cuts were announced in the first two months of this year, the highest year-to-date total since 2009, when 480,099 losses were announced amid the economic downturn.

Government job cuts — driven largely by President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission — led all sectors in the most cuts announced.

According to the report, 62,242 jobs were cut from 17 agencies in February of this year, for a total of 62,530 job losses since the start of the year. That represents a 41,311 percent increase from the 151 job cuts announced in the same period of 2024, according to the report.

The Labor Department will release the official February jobs report Friday morning.

“It appears the administration wants to cut even more workers, but an order to fire the roughly 200,000 probationary employees was blocked by a federal judge. It remains to be seen how many more workers will lose their Federal Government roles,” the firm’s senior vice president, Andrew Challenger, said in the report.

“When mass layoffs occur, it often leaves remaining staff feeling uneasy and uncertain. The likelihood that many more workers leave voluntarily is high,” he added.

Retail job cuts followed close behind government cuts, with 38,956 announced in February for a total of 45,375 this year. That represents a 572 percent increase from last year, when retail employers cut 6,751 jobs year-to-date.

The technology sector followed with 14,554 job cuts announced in February, for a year-to-date total of 22,042 cuts. That represents a 22 percent decrease, however, from the 28,218 cuts announced in the first two months of last year.

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Job cuts last month higher than any February since 2009

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