The Latest Breaking News from Challenger Gray Christmas

Odds for a December rate cut remain high after the latest batch of jobs data, which helped the Russell 2000 outperform today.

Nearly a third of US companies plan holiday layoffs despite admitting cuts could wait, amid a year that has already seen over 1.1 million job losses and widespread executive bonuses.

As the U.S. government shutdown suspends Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data releases, including the critical September jobs report scheduled for Friday, the Chicago Fed has stepped in with a final real-time forecast, predicting a steady unemployment rate of 4.34% for September 2025, based on 11 job market indicators.

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX ) (SPY ) on Thursday closed up +0.06%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI ) (DIA ) closed up +0.17%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX ) (QQQ ) closed up +0.37%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ25 ) rose +0.06%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures...

AI is becoming a major driver of workforce reductions, with over 10,000 job cuts in 2025 directly linked to automation, according to new data.

The summer of layoffs is real, according to the July monthly "job cut" report from employment consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"Identifying the right leader for long-term success has become increasingly difficult,” says Andy Challenger, labor and workplace expert at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue.”

Panic selling sent the Nasdaq Composite into correction territory, while the Dow and S&P 500 suffered notable losses.