Notices of impending mass layoffs by US companies surged in October to among the highest levels on record, according to a tally by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland researchers.
Some 39,006 Americans were given advance notice as required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act last month, the preliminary Cleveland Fed measure showed. In monthly data from 2006, that number has only ever been higher in 2008, 2009, 2020 and May 2025.
The data add to evidence of a deteriorating labor market, not just through reduced hiring but also mounting job losses. Federal Reserve officials have been debating the extent of the slowdown as they deliberate over whether to continue cutting interest rates.
Many optimists have pointed to weekly filings for unemployment insurance, which remain muted. Pessimists have cited a rash of recent layoffs, including figures by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. which recently showed US employers announced the most job cuts for any October in more than 20 years.
Written by: Matthew Boesler @Bloomberg
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