US Firms Cut Fewer Jobs Amid Holiday Ramp-Up, Challenger Says

  • Quarterly job cuts drop to one-year low as tech layoffs ebb
  • Seasonal hiring plans jumped 54% year over year in September
Contractors build a house in Louisville, Kentucky.Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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US companies announced the fewest quarterly job cuts in a year amid strong seasonal hiring plans, a tentative sign that the layoff wave that had gripped the job market may be subsiding.

Job cuts totaled 146,305 in the third quarter, down 22% from the April-to-June period, according to a monthly report published Thursday by the executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Companies announced plans to fill 552,800 seasonal positions in September, up 54% from the same month last year.