U.S. Information-Sector Layoffs Surge to Near-Pandemic-Era Levels

Layoffs across the U.S. information sector accelerated sharply in June, with the layoff and discharge rate rising 0.7 percentage points to 2.3% — the third-highest level since the 2020 pandemic.
The rate has more than doubled since November 2025, while 63,000 workers were laid off or discharged in June, also the third-highest monthly total since April 2020.
The 6-month moving average layoff rate has now climbed to 2.0%, the second-highest on record.
For comparison, the metric peaked at roughly 1.5% during both the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2001 recession.