US-based employers announced plans to hire 12,325 workers in August 2026, down 23% from the 16,095 plans announced in July, and up 725% from the 1,494 announced in August 2025. It is the highest August total since 2022, when employers announced 41,985 hiring plans. Aerospace/Defense led all industries in August with 4,025 announced hires, followed by Technology with 2,520 and Industrial Goods with 1,856. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Hiring Plans Announcements in the United States averaged 86405.52 Persons from 2011 until 2026, reaching an all time high of 939790.00 Persons in September of 2021 and a record low of 1494.00 Persons in August of 2025. This page includes a chart with historical data for the United States Hiring Plans Announcements. United States Challenger Hiring Plans Announcements - values, historical data and charts - was last updated on September of 2026.

Related	Last	Previous	Unit	Reference
ADP Employment Change	38.00	46.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM	0.30	0.20	percent	Aug 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY	3.10	3.20	percent	Aug 2026
Average Weekly Hours	34.40	34.30	Hours	Aug 2026
Challenger Job Cuts	52881.00	33429.00	Persons	Aug 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims	1774.00	1775.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Employed Persons	162746.00	162177.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Employment Cost Index	0.90	0.90	percent	Jun 2026
Employment Cost - Benefits	1.00	1.20	percent	Jun 2026
Employment Cost - Wages	0.90	0.80	percent	Jun 2026
Employment Rate	59.10	58.90	percent	Aug 2026
Full Time Employment	134288.00	133553.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Government Payrolls	35.00	-50.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans	12325.00	16095.00	Persons	Aug 2026
Initial Jobless Claims	206.00	207.00	Thousand	Sep 2026
Job Layoffs and Discharges	1666.00	1785.00	Thousand	Jul 2026
JOLTs Job Openings	7271.00	7182.00	Thousand	Jul 2026
JOLTs Job Quits	3056.00	3213.00	Thousand	Jul 2026
Job Quits Rate	1.90	2.00	Percent	Jul 2026
Job Openings	7738.00	6948.00	Thousand	Jul 2026
Jobless Claims 4-week Average	206.00	207.50	Thousand	Sep 2026
Participation Rate	61.60	61.40	percent	Aug 2026
Labour Costs	123.98	123.62	points	Jun 2026
Long Term Unemployment Rate	1.14	1.05	percent	Aug 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls	16.00	14.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Minimum Wages	7.25	7.25	USD/Hour	Dec 2026
Non Farm Payrolls	162.00	21.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private	127.00	71.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Nonfarm Productivity	1.40	0.80	percent	Jun 2026
Part Time Employment	28541.00	28764.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Population	342.28	340.97	Million	Dec 2025
Productivity	120.02	119.59	points	Jun 2026
Retirement Age Men	67.00	66.83	Years	Dec 2026
Retirement Age Women	67.00	66.83	Years	Dec 2026
U-6 Unemployment Rate	7.70	7.90	percent	Aug 2026
Unemployed Persons	7031.00	6916.00	Thousand	Aug 2026
Unemployment Rate	4.10	4.10	percent	Aug 2026
Unit Labour Costs	1.20	1.30	percent	Jun 2026
Wage Growth	3.47	4.17	percent	Jul 2026
Wages	32.53	32.42	USD/Hour	Aug 2026
Wages in Manufacturing	30.37	30.33	USD/Hour	Aug 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate	9.10	8.50	percent	Aug 2026

United States Challenger Hiring Plans Announcements

The Challenger Job-Cut Report provides information on the total number of announced corporate layoffs. Produced by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., this monthly report collects and categorizes announcements of corporate layoffs using mass layoff data from state departments of labor.