The jobs market is hot, but layoffs keep coming in a shifting economic environment
The U.S. economy is humming and there are hundreds of thousands of jobs being added every month. In a stunning burst of hiring to start the year, the nation added 353,000 jobs in January, shrugging off the highest interest rates in two decades that have been put in place by the U.S. Federal Reserve in part to cool off hiring and spending. The unemployment rate is hovering at 3.7%, just above a half-century low. At the same time, layoffs continue to arrive across almost every sector in 2024 as companies adjust to a shifting economy.
Job cuts in tech and retail follow a massive ramp-up in hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic — when people spent more time and money online. Now, many companies are reducing headcounts to help lower costs.
The high profile job cuts seem to arrive steadily, but the companies that went announced nearly 700 job cuts.
