The US labor market, which in recent months had ground nearly to a halt, now appears to be entering a downward spiral.
As reported by the Washington Post on Thursday, new data from corporate outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that employers in October announced 153,000 job cuts, which marked the highest number of layoffs in that month since October 2003.
Total announced job cuts in 2025 have now reached 1.1 million, a number that the Post describes as a recession-like level comparable to the steep job cuts announced in the wake of the dotcom bust of the early 2000s, the global financial crisis of 2008, and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
John Challenger, the CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told the Post that the huge number of October layoffs showed the economy was entering new territory.
We havent seen mega-layoffs of the size that are being discussed now48,000 from UPS, potentially 30,000 from Amazonsince 2020 and before that, since the recession of 2009, he explained. When you see companies making cuts of this size, it does signal a real shift in direction.
CNBC noted that the Challenger report found that the tech sector is currently being hardest hit by the layoffs, and it said that the adoption of artificial intelligence was a significant driver of job cuts.
Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes, the report said. Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.
With the backing of Big Tech investors, President Donald Trump has pushed to prevent states from regulating AI, over the objections of labor groups and progressive lawmakers. Last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned that without strong regulation, tech billionaires investments in AI will likely increase their wealth and power exponentially while wiping out tens of millions of jobs.
According to Bloomberg , however, AI adoption is just one factor in companies decision to enact mass layoffs, as some firms have also cited the need to protect their profit margins from the impacts of President Donald Trumps tariffs, which have raised prices for a wide variety of products and materials.
Democratic lawmakers were quick to seize on the news of mass layoffs as evidence that Trump is sending the US economy into a ditch.
Trump put billionaires in charge of everything, remarked Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) in a social media post. Its a disaster.
Trump inherited the fastest growing economy in the [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development], fastest reduction in inflation, record job creation, said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). Dumb tariffs, racist immigration policies, attacks on the rule of law and termination of congressionally mandated programs did this.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), meanwhile, simply wrote that Trumps economy suuuuucks.
On the bright side, 2026 midterms are looking better every day under these clowns. And they know it.
On the bright side, 2026 midterms are looking better every day under these clowns. And they know it.They don't care.
They don't care.
They've already won and have full federal control while empowering ICE, police and packing courts with chuds.
They've already laid the groundwork for ignoring anything that happens from now on
Do we have any reliable unemployment rate numbers on account of all this?
They don't care.They aren't nearly at the stage you're describing, and their attempt to get there is grinding to a halt.
They've already won and have full federal control while empowering ICE, police and packing courts with chuds.
They've already laid the groundwork for ignoring anything that happens from now on
They care.He's talking about removal from office, but that would take 67 Senators. Assuming a party-line vote, Dems could only lose two 2026 Senate races. Are they worried about that? Are they worried about Republican defections? Or is it just scare tactics he doesn't believe? I think that's probably the order from least to most likely.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressiveHQ/comments/1op9wna/johnson_if_we_lose_the_majority_they_will_try_to/
He's talking about removal from office, but that would take 67 Senators. Assuming a party-line vote, Dems could only lose two 2026 Senate races. Are they worried about that? Are they worried about Republican defections? Or is it just scare tactics he doesn't believe? I think that's probably the order from least to most likely.He also talking about undoing all the reforms they have done, which last I checked their reforms were centered around giving to the rich and screwing everyone else.
Yeah but just wait until those American factories pop up overnight then EVERYONE is going to get hired!!!!
He's talking about removal from office, but that would take 67 Senators. Assuming a party-line vote, Dems could only lose two 2026 Senate races. Are they worried about that? Are they worried about Republican defections? Or is it just scare tactics he doesn't believe? I think that's probably the order from least to most likely.
also let's kill the bill that was supposed to incentivize building chip manufacturing facilities in the US just because biden signed itwell to be fair, if you want to limit AI one great way to do it would be getting rid of chip manufacturing <_<
well to be fair, if you want to limit AI one great way to do it would be getting rid of chip manufacturing <_<
Trump is bad for the economy. You can make an argument that tariffs can boost the economy (you'd probably be wrong, at least long-term) but for that to work you still need somebody with vision and precision at the helm. In practice Trump is neither of those things and the volatility he creates makes it practically impossible for businesses and markets to plan accordingly and whole sectors suffer for it.
In some ways Trump is lucky the pandemic happened at the end of his first term because it became the perfect scapegoat to mask his terrible economic policies.
What could go wrong with electing the vindictive idiot toddler?We had no choice, Drizzt! She was a tyrant! She laughed! What are her policies!? What's a "worse genocide"? Explain it to me like I'm 5! I should be taken seriously in political discussions!
https://www.commondreams.org/news/mass-layoffs-trump-economyidk, are you?
Are we great yet?
https://www.commondreams.org/news/mass-layoffs-trump-economy
Are we great yet?
We had no choice, Drizzt! She was a tyrant! She laughed! What are her policies!? What's a "worse genocide"? Explain it to me like I'm 5! I should be taken seriously in political discussions!Sadly people still think the economy would be even worse under Harris. They don't seem to realize it's Trump's policies causing this.
Trump is bad for the economy.
We are not great yet but will be great (depression) soon if trends continue. After all it's not MAGA it's MAGDA.the D is silent.
How are the egg prices btw?