Job market mixed bag: Jobless claims drop to 3-year low, but employers shed 71,000 jobs in worst November since 2022
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Updated Thu, December 4, 2025 at 3:08 PM GMT+1 3 min read
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US 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.
The data comes on the heels of last month’s brutal Challenger, Gray & Christmas report, which detailed the worst October for layoff plans since 2003 amid a rash of cuts from major employers like Amazon (AMZN), challenging the narrative that the labor market was stuck in a state of low hiring and low firing. 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 another job 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.
Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, wrote on X that while this was an "extremely low read" of initial claims, “It's normal for initial claims to be quite volatile during the holiday season, so I don't attach much meaning to this week's dip (and caution warranted about swings in the other direction, too).”
Earlier this week, private payroll processor ADP found that the economy unexpectedly shed 32,000 private-sector positions last month, with losses concentrated among small- and medium-size businesses.
All that is reflected in souring sentiment about the state of the job market. According to the University of Michigan's survey of consumers, 69% of consumers now expect unemployment to rise in the year ahead, more than double the rate from this time last year. The perceived probability of losing one’s job is at its highest level since 2020.
Government, nonprofit sectors hit hard
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So far this year, employers have announced 1,170,821 layoffs, up 54% from the first 11 months of 2024, Challenger said. It's been the worst year for planned cuts since 2020, when the pandemic ripped through the economy.
DOGE-led cuts have been a driving force, cited in nearly 294,000 planned cuts that were felt among government workers and contractors alike. The impact has also slammed the nonprofit sector, which has announced almost 29,000 cuts this year, up 409% from the layoffs announced at the same point in 2024.
However, just in November, restructuring was blamed for more than 20,000 planned cuts. AI was cited in more than 6,000 layoffs, Challenger said, while market conditions were cited in 15,755 cuts. Telecommunication and technology companies led planned layoffs for the month.
As for plans to bring on new employees this year, employers announced just under 500,000 hires through November, down from about 762,000 at this point in 2024 and the lowest year-to-date total since 2010.
Official government data on job openings, hires, and layoffs for October will be released by the Department of Labor on Dec. 9, while the unemployment rate for November will be published Dec. 16.
Official government data on job openings, hires, and layoffs for October will be released by the Department of Labor on Dec. 9, while the unemployment rate for November will be published Dec. 16.
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com.