(Sharecast News) - US employers cut 153,074 jobs last month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, up 175% year-on-year, with the largest October figure for more than 20 years coming as industries continued to adopt AI and ramp-up cost cutting efforts.
October's number took total layoffs for the year to 1.1m through - marking a 65% increase on the same period in 2024. Job cuts so far in 2025 are at their highest level since 2020, when 2.3m layoffs were announced over the same timeframe.

Challenger stated some industries were seemingly correcting after the "hiring boom of the pandemic", but also ntoed that October's cuts came as "AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs" had driven "belt-tightening and hiring freezes".

Rostro's Joshua Mahony said: "This morning's 153,074 job cuts for the month of October represents a 175% rise in cuts compared with last October, with challenger attributing AI adoption as a key reason for this. Coming hot off the heels of the Amazon confirmation of 14,000 job losses, it is notable that today's report saw technology as the main area being impacted by cuts.

"While there remain key concerns around the jobs market, the fact that we have seen expectations of a December rate cut fall to 67% signals the significant shift in confidence since the Fed's recent rate decision."



Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

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