The pace of US job cuts moderated in June, even as the running total for 2023 crept closer to half a million.
Employers announced just 40,709 cuts last month, down by almost half from May’s tally. The YoY pace, which exploded higher during the first half as companies, and particularly tech firms, attempted to right-size and preempt an expected deceleration in demand by trimming the proverbial fat, receded to 25%.
All told, Challenger, Gray & Christmas counted 458,209 announced cuts for the first half of 2023, up 244% from the same period a year ago.
The figure above gives you some context. Despite the decline in June from May, 2023 is still on track to see the most job cuts outside of COVID and the financial crisis.
If you’re wondering whether it’s unusual for job cuts to slow as summer approaches the answer is “no.” June is typically the slowest month in Challenger’s data, but the firm said Thursday it’s possible “the deep job losses predicted due to inflation and interest rates will not come to pass.”
Importantly, tech cuts have slowed markedly after exploding higher. So far in 2023, tech firms have cut nearly 142,000 jobs, a 2,353% increase from last year, and the second most on record behind only 2001, in the aftermath of the dot-com bust.
Concerns about economic and market conditions are the number one reason for job cuts in 2023, accounting for around half of the total. Cost-cutting is also a popular rationale (or excuse, if you like).
Just seven jobs were lost to A.I. last month, apparently. The Thursday update from Challenger noted that in June, “a media company laid off writers as the owner pivoted to a project in Artificial Intelligence.”
June’s overall total was the lowest since October.
