In May 2026, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported a 38% increase in announced U.S. job cuts for April 2026, totaling 83,387 layoffs, as employers continue to navigate shifting market demands and technological shifts, such as AI. Despite this monthly increase, the year-to-date total for 2026 remained significantly lower than the same period in 2025.
Key Findings for Early 2026:
April 2026 Layoffs: Job cuts rose to 83,387 from 60,620 in March, though they remained below the 105,441 announced in April 2025.
Hiring Slowdown: Announced hiring plans dropped 69% in April to 10,049, indicating a cautious approach to staffing.
Sector Impact: Technology remains a key area for cuts, alongside rising layoffs in transportation and retail.
AI Influence: Artificial Intelligence was cited as a contributing factor for job cuts in early 2026, representing about 8% of total cut announcements for the year-to-date as of the March report.
2026 Trend: The overall trend for the first quarter of 2026 showed lower job cuts compared to the high levels experienced in early 2025.
[image]Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. +5
The official May 2026 report, covering April data, indicates that companies are restructuring rather than engaging in mass hiring, with artificial intelligence continuing to reshape the workforce.
[image]LinkedIn·Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. +2
The numbers below are from the Labor Dept out of their modeling. The numbers are not actual numbers. The press is eating it up. Dumb bunnies.
Although an excuse has been made by NPR, low paying mom and pop jobs are being filled in part. Does not explain away modeled numbers, but Challenger’s report is based on posted job/hiring announcements, not waitressing jobs.
The US economy added a stronger-than-expected 115,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.3%, an indication of resilience at a time when war and high gas prices loom large.
April’s employment gains mark an expected retreat from March, when a revised 185,000 jobs were created, boosted by factors such as the end of large labor strikes as well as favorable weather, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.
Beware the ADP number is off by an average of 80k. See “Average Error” below.
The ADP National Employment Report is a useful, “near real-time” tracker of private-sector employment, but it is not a reliable predictor of the official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) nonfarm payrolls report. While both measure employment, they use different methodologies and often diverge significantly month-to-month, leading many analysts to view ADP as a tool for spotting trends rather than forecasting the exact BLS number.
[image]Charles Schwab +2
Key Takeaways on Accuracy:
Methodology: ADP uses actual payroll data from over 25 million workers at 500,000+ client firms. Following a 2022 overhaul with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, it now tracks the labor market more independently, focusing on private-sector jobs rather than trying to perfectly mirror the government’s total nonfarm payroll number, which includes public-sector employees.
Divergence from BLS: ADP often misses the mark compared to the BLS report. For instance, early 2025 data showed significant gaps, with one month showing a 63,000-job average discrepancy.
Average Error: Despite improvements, the report has had average errors of over 80,000 jobs, which is higher than the consensus forecast error.
Focus: It is highly accurate for identifying, in near real-time, how medium and large-sized businesses are hiring, but it often misses trends within very small, “mom-and-pop” businesses and excludes government jobs.