Data through: September 2026 · updated Nov 4 · Updates: Monthly · Next: Dec 1
MThe three bars show the last 3 months for this indicator, oldest left to newest right. Bar height reflects each reading relative to the other two — the tallest is the highest of the three, the shortest the lowest.
↓ 7.2% MoM
Historical context: Currently in the 12th percentile — near historically low/favorable levels.
What this means right now: Layoffs are low — between 1.5 and 2 million a month, the survey's usual state: about 3 months in 4 since 2000 (233 of 310). Employers are not cutting headcount; only 6 of those months fell inside a recession.
JOLTS Layoffs & Discharges · Monthly · 2000–2026
NBER recessions
Scroll to read · zoom and pan in Expand
Monthly values
JOLTS Layoffs & Discharges — the last 12 months
Every month's reading, with the band the heatmap gives it. The chart above shows the same series in full.
Month
Value
Band
Sep 2026
1.64M
Healthy reading
Aug 2026
1.77M
Healthy reading
Jul 2026
1.70M
Healthy reading
Jun 2026
1.78M
Healthy reading
May 2026
1.76M
Healthy reading
Apr 2026
1.67M
Healthy reading
Month-end readings of the same series as the chart. Values are the current record, not point-in-time: a month that has since been revised shows its revised value.
What is the JOLTS Layoffs?
JOLTS Layoffs and Discharges measures the total number of involuntary separations each month — workers who lost their jobs through layoffs, downsizing, plant closings, or being fired. Unlike the quit rate (which measures voluntary departures), layoffs measure forced departures initiated by employers. Rising layoffs mean employers are actively reducing headcount. As a warning on their own they have been weak: a 20% rise in the three-month average above its year's low came five times from 2001 through 2025. The unemployment rate was clearly higher within six months after one of them (2009, with a recession under way). After the March 2020 rise, published on May 15, 2020, the rate had already jumped to 14.8% and fell from there. It was not higher after the other three (2017, 2021 and 2023).
The layoffs level provides important context alongside jobless claims. Claims measure workers who filed for unemployment benefits. JOLTS layoffs measure every involuntary separation, including workers who may not file a claim: those who receive severance, part-time workers, or workers in states with more restrictive eligibility. Together, the two series paint a complete picture of involuntary job loss in the US economy.
How We Color-Code the JOLTS Layoffs
Our heatmap colors this indicator against historically significant thresholds:
Below 1.50M
Very low layoffs — employers holding on to workers; rare, 17 months since 2000, in 2021–22 and June 2024
1.50M – 2.00M
Low layoffs — the survey's usual state, about 3 months in 4 since 2000 (233 of 310)
2.00M – 2.50M
Moderate — 54 months since 2000, in 2000–05, 2007–10 and 2020; about 3 in 10 of them inside a recession (16 of 54)
2.50M – 3.50M
Elevated layoffs — 4 months since 2000, all in 2009
Above 3.50M
Mass layoffs — 2 months since 2000, both in 2020
Historical Extremes — What Happened Next?
When this indicator reaches extreme levels, history shows consistent patterns:
Mar 2020COVID Shutdown
12.98M
The largest single-month layoff surge in the survey's history since 2000 — about 13 million involuntary separations in one month during the COVID shutdown.
Apr 2022Post-COVID Historic Low
1.31M
The lowest monthly layoff count in the survey's history — in the post-COVID labor shortage employers held on to the workers they had.
2008-2009Financial Crisis
2.65M
Layoffs peaked in April 2009; the unemployment rate peaked six months later, at 10.0% in October 2009. Layoffs stayed at 2 million or more a month from June 2008 to October 2009.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between layoffs and jobless claims?
Jobless claims count workers who file for unemployment benefits — a subset of all workers who lost jobs. JOLTS layoffs count all involuntary separations regardless of whether the worker filed for benefits. Workers who receive severance packages and delay filing, part-time workers, and workers in some states may be laid off but not counted in claims. JOLTS layoffs therefore capture a broader picture of involuntary job loss than claims alone.
Why were layoffs so unusually low in 2021-2022 despite economic uncertainty?
Employers experienced such severe difficulty hiring workers during the post-COVID labor shortage that they were extremely reluctant to lay off anyone — even as business conditions slowed. With openings at their highest on record in March 2022, replacing a laid-off worker — recruiting, hiring, training — was slow and costly, so employers held on to the staff they had. This "labor hoarding" kept layoffs below every earlier reading in the survey from March 2021 to April 2022. They bottomed at 1.31 million in April 2022, the month after the Fed's first rate rise, the lowest on record. Through the rate rises that ended in July 2023 they stayed below their 2015–19 pace: about 1.56 million a month, against 1.80 million.
Do layoffs lead or lag the economic cycle?
Layoffs have not led. A 20% rise in the three-month average above its year's low came five times from 2001 through 2025. The unemployment rate was clearly higher within six months after one of them (2009, with a recession under way); in 2020 it had already jumped by the day the layoffs were published. In 2008–09 layoffs peaked in April 2009, six months before the unemployment rate did. Once a downturn is underway the two rise together, layoffs about a month ahead (correlation 0.6 of their twelve-month changes).
Are tech layoffs a reliable signal for the broader labor market?
Not necessarily — tech industry layoffs make headlines disproportionately because they involve well-documented large announcements at major companies. But tech is a small share of total employment; layoff trends in the far larger healthcare, retail and government workforces matter more for the aggregate number than tech-sector moves, even dramatic ones.
How quickly do JOLTS layoffs respond to economic deterioration, and how does this compare to jobless claims?
JOLTS layoffs are a monthly survey published five to six weeks after the month, so they are slower than weekly jobless claims but broader. They count every involuntary separation, including workers not eligible for unemployment insurance. Claims give the faster pulse; JOLTS gives the fuller monthly count.