United States corporate layoffs dropped to their lowest level in two years during July as employers announced 33,429 job cuts, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
The July total represents a 27 percent decline from June and a 46 percent drop compared to the same month last year. Across the first seven months of 2026, companies announced 477,033 redundancies, which is a 41 percent decrease from the 2025 period.
Technology Sector Cuts
The technology sector continued to lead overall job destruction, cutting 9,867 positions in July. That brings total tech industry layoffs to 149,023 workers so far in 2026, representing 31 percent of all announced cuts in the nation this year.
Financial institutions recorded 3,157 job cuts in July, raising their cumulative total for the year to 18,626 positions. That reflects a 31 percent reduction from the 26,894 financial sector cuts announced through July 2025.
Recruitment and Industry Hiring
While layoffs fell, hiring plans grew significantly. American businesses announced plans to recruit 16,095 workers in July, up 47 percent from 10,933 in June and well above the 3,200 hiring announcements in July 2025, marking the highest July hiring total since 2022.
So far in 2026, companies have outlined plans to add 107,500 employees. That is a 25 percent increase over the 86,132 additions reported through July 2025 and represents the strongest year to date hiring performance since 2023.
Hiring Leaders and Industry Trends
Aerospace and defense companies led monthly hiring in July by adding 4,625 positions, followed by the technology sector with 2,470 hires and the automotive industry with 2,068 hires. For the full year to date, technology leads all sectors with 17,231 planned hires, followed by automotive at 14,704 and aerospace and defense at 12,516.
Andy Challenger, a labor expert and chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, said the pace of layoffs slowed sharply this summer. He noted that workforce reductions remain concentrated in technology, where artificial intelligence investments continue to transform organizational structures.
