Job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers fell 16.4% from January’s total of 67,735 to 56,660 in February. Despite widespread concern, COVID-19 has not yet caused companies to cut positions, according to a report released Thursday from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Last month’s total is 26.3% lower than the 76,835 cuts announced in the same month last year. Through February, employers announced 124,395 job cuts, down 4.2% from the 129,823 cuts announced in the first two months of 2019.
Technology leads all industries in announced job cuts with 24,087, 10,218 of which were announced in February. That is 1,041% higher than the 2,111 cuts announced in that sector through February last year.
Our VP @AndyChallengeHR talks jobs and #COVID19 with @YahooFinance https://t.co/X0PctG25lX
— ChallengerGray (@ChallengerGray) March 5, 2020