Pink Slips
Monthly corporate layoff announcements tracked by Challenger
What is the current Pink Slips reading?
Challenger Job Cut Announcements: 33,400 as of 2026-07. Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas counted 33,400 in announced job cuts in July 2026.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas tracks job cuts as employers announce them, and the count swings hard from month to month. July 2026 came in at 33,400. 275,200 was announced in March 2025, the heaviest month on this page. Announcements are not separations: an announced cut may land months later, in stages, or not at all.
Federal workforce reductions and AI-related restructuring have both appeared as named reasons in this period. The AI Cut tracks the AI-attributed reason code separately.
Announcement counts are watched as an early read on later unemployment claims, but this page does not establish that relationship. The Warning Light and The Mood Ring report expectations and sentiment on their own terms.
What makes the current period unusual is the stated reason rather than the count. Cuts attributed to government downsizing and to automation are not obviously the kind that reverse when demand recovers, which is a different question from how many were announced in any one month.
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Is this happening to you?
Has your company had layoffs, or are you worried they might?
How has Pink Slips changed over time?
Most affected counties
Counties with the highest labor scores in the County Distress Index.
Explore all 3,144 counties →| Period | Value | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2026 | 33.4K | -28.7K |
| Jun 2026 | 45.8K | -2.2K |
| May 2026 | 97K | +3.2K |
| Apr 2026 | 83.4K | -22K |
| Jan 2026 | 108.4K | +58.6K |
| Dec 2025 | 35.6K | -3.2K |
| Nov 2025 | 71.3K | +13.6K |
| Oct 2025 | 153.1K | +97.5K |
| Sep 2025 | 54.1K | -18.7K |
| Aug 2025 | 86K | +10.1K |
| Jul 2025 | 62.1K | +36.2K |
| Jun 2025 | 48K | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Challenger Job Cut Announcements?
Monthly corporate layoff announcements tracked by Challenger
Why does Challenger Job Cut Announcements matter for financial distress?
Challenger Job Cut Announcements is one of the indicators tracked by the American Distress Index (ADI), which measures five dimensions of U.S. household financial distress: Delinquency, Default & Legal, Debt Burden, Labor, and Safety Net & Buffer. Changes in this indicator contribute to the overall distress picture.
Where does the Challenger Job Cut Announcements data come from?
This data comes from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. More information: https://www.challengergray.com/blog/category/job-cuts-report/. The American Distress Index updates this indicator monthly.
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