US employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August 2026, the lowest August total in four years and 38 per cent below the 85,979 cuts announced a year earlier, as restructuring rather than artificial intelligence drove most redundancies. The slowdown continued a broader fall in planned job losses, even as concerns persist about AI's impact on work.
Through the first eight months of 2026, US companies have announced nearly 530,000 job cuts. That is 41 per cent lower than the total recorded during the same period last year and the lowest eight‑month figure in four years.
