U.S. layoffs surged in July to their highest level since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July, there were 62,075 job cuts announced, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That’s a 29 percent jump from June and 140 percent higher than the 25,885 announced in July 2024.
The July figure is well above the post-pandemic average for the month (23,584 between 2021 and 2024) and slightly higher than the past decade’s July average of 60,398. It pushes the 2025 total to 806,383 layoffs—a 75 percent increase compared with the same period last year and already 6 percent higher than all of 2024. It’s the highest January-to-July figure since 2020, when pandemic shutdowns drove layoffs above 1.8 million.
The surge in layoffs in 2025 is due to a mix of government downsizing, corporate restructuring and the growing effects of artificial intelligence. Public agencies, tech firms and retailers are leading the cuts.
“We are seeing the federal budget cuts implemented by DOGE impact nonprofits and health care in addition to the government. AI was cited for over 10,000 cuts last month, and tariff concerns have impacted nearly 6,000 jobs this year,” said Andrew Challenger, a senior vice president and labor expert at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The majority of layoffs this year have been from the federal government—a total of 292,294 since the year started—as President Donald Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues its mission to scale down the size of numerous agencies. There have also been knock-on effects for contractors and organizations reliant on public funding, which the report calls the “DOGE Downstream Impact.”
Private sector cuts have been concentrated in industries under structural pressure. Technology and telecom firms are reducing head count as they shift investment toward AI and cloud infrastructure. Retailers have been hit by softer discretionary spending, higher costs and changing consumer habits, prompting store closures. Other sectors above historical layoff norms include finance, business services and transportation, where companies are scaling back capacity after pandemic-era expansions.