US employers have announced 12,755 hiring plans in February 2026, much higher than a record low of 5,306 in January. However, they are down 63% from the 34,580 hiring plans in February 2025. So far this year, employers have announced plans to hire 18,061, down 56% from 40,669 new hires during the same period in 2025. source: Challenger, Gray and Christmas, Inc.

Hiring Plans Announcements in the United States averaged 88694.91 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 March of 2026.

Related	Last	Previous	Unit	Reference
ADP Employment Change	63.00	11.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
Average Hourly Earnings MoM	0.40	0.10	percent	Jan 2026
Average Hourly Earnings YoY	3.70	3.70	percent	Jan 2026
Average Weekly Hours	34.30	34.20	Hours	Jan 2026
Challenger Job Cuts	48307.00	108435.00	Persons	Feb 2026
Continuing Jobless Claims	1868.00	1822.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
Employed Persons	164520.00	163992.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Employment Cost Index	0.70	0.80	percent	Dec 2025
Employment Cost - Benefits	0.70	0.80	percent	Dec 2025
Employment Cost - Wages	0.70	0.80	percent	Dec 2025
Employment Rate	59.80	59.70	percent	Jan 2026
Full Time Employment	135797.00	135215.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Government Payrolls	-42.00	-16.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Challenger Hiring Plans	12755.00	5306.00	Persons	Feb 2026
Initial Jobless Claims	213.00	213.00	Thousand	Feb 2026
Job Layoffs and Discharges	1762.00	1701.00	Thousand	Dec 2025
JOLTs Job Openings	6542.00	6928.00	Thousand	Dec 2025
JOLTs Job Quits	3204.00	3193.00	Thousand	Dec 2025
Job Quits Rate	2.00	2.00	Percent	Dec 2025
Job Openings	6038.00	6574.00	Thousand	Dec 2025
Jobless Claims 4-week Average	215.75	220.50	Thousand	Feb 2026
Participation Rate	62.50	62.40	percent	Jan 2026
Labour Costs	122.55	121.72	points	Dec 2025
Long Term Unemployment Rate	1.07	1.14	percent	Jan 2026
Manufacturing Payrolls	5.00	-8.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Minimum Wages	7.25	7.25	USD/Hour	Dec 2025
Non Farm Payrolls	130.00	48.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Nonfarm Payrolls Private	172.00	64.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Nonfarm Productivity	2.80	5.20	percent	Dec 2025
Part Time Employment	28743.00	28712.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Population	342.28	340.97	Million	Dec 2025
Productivity	119.64	118.81	points	Dec 2025
Retirement Age Men	67.00	66.83	Years	Dec 2026
Retirement Age Women	67.00	66.83	Years	Dec 2026
U-6 Unemployment Rate	8.00	8.40	percent	Jan 2026
Unemployed Persons	7362.00	7503.00	Thousand	Jan 2026
Unemployment Rate	4.30	4.40	percent	Jan 2026
Unit Labour Costs	2.80	-1.80	percent	Dec 2025
Wage Growth	3.68	3.89	percent	Dec 2025
Wages	31.95	31.83	USD/Hour	Jan 2026
Wages in Manufacturing	29.63	29.52	USD/Hour	Jan 2026
Youth Unemployment Rate	9.00	10.40	percent	Jan 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.