Layoffs 2025: Tech and government hardest hit as more than 1 million job losses announced so far this year

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3. Job market mixed bag: Jobless claims drop to 3-year low, but employers shed 71,000 jobs in worst November since 2022

Yahoo Finance, 9:11 AM ET, 12/4/25
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/job-market-mixed-bag-jobless-claims-drop-to-3-year-low-but-employers-shed-71000-jobs-in-worst-november-since-2022-124809562.html

The US jobs market received a fresh set of mixed signals on Thursday, with claims for unemployment insurance dropping to a three-year low but employer layoff plans flashing another warning sign.

Employers announced 71,321 layoffs last month, according to a Thursday report from the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The cuts were up 24% from the nearly 58,000 planned layoffs announced in November 2024, and amounted to the highest total for the month since 2022.

Layoff announcements in October were at 153,074.

“Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008,” Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the report.

On the other labor market front, new data from the Department of Labor showed 191,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits were filed in the week ending Nov. 29, down from 218,000 the week prior to reach the lowest level since September 2022.

There's quite a lot more about the Challenger report, e.g. "So far this year, employers have announced 1,170,821 layoffs, up 54% from the first 11 months of 2024, "