U.S. employers announced nearly 41,000 job cuts in June, down almost 50% from the cuts announced in May — but still above last June’s numbers, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas’s latest job cuts report.
While June did indicate a slow down for such announcements, that may not necessarily prove that deep job losses aren’t coming in future months — but it could also potentially be a good sign, the company said.
“The drop in cuts is not unusual for the summer months. In fact, June is historically the slowest month on average for announcements. It is also possible that the deep job losses predicted due to inflation and interest rates will not come to pass, particularly as the Fed holds rates,” Andrew Challenger, SVP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., said in a statement.
Tech continues to vastly lead the way in job cuts, jumping to 141,516 cuts this year, compared to 5,769 announced in the same period the year prior. Retail, financial firms and service firms also announced large cuts, reflecting the “cost-cutting many companies are undergoing to prepare for an economic slowdown,” Challenger said.
The monthly job reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still paint a picture of a well-humming economy; June added 209,000 jobs to private payroll. But other signs of slowdown, including decreases in job postings on platforms like Indeed, still hint to companies battening down the hatches in reaction to recession fears.
