Jan 2026: Highest January Layoff Announcements Since 2009, Jobs Data Weakest in Three Months

January 2026 saw 108,435 job cuts announced by U.S. employers, the highest number in a January since 2009, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Layoffs tripled from December and more than doubled from the same month in 2025. About 40% of announcements relate to Amazon and UPS, with UPS planning up to 30,000 cuts tied to winding down its Amazon delivery partnership. Reasons cited include contract loss (30,784), market and economic conditions (28,392), restructuring (20,044), and closures (12,738); AI accounted for 7,624 and tariffs for 294. ADP estimated private sector job gains of 22,000 in January, the weakest in three months and the weakest January since 2021. Challenger reported 5,306 hiring announcements, the lowest ever for January. Initial unemployment claims rose to 231,000 for the week ended January 31, an eight-week high, though economists attribute the tepid claims to lighter holiday hiring, not a labor market turnaround. In reaction, stocks extended losses: Dow -1.3%, S&P 500 -1.45%, Nasdaq -1.9%.