【Epoch Times, November 19, 2025】- According to data released by the American data processing company ADP on Tuesday, November 18, the situation of job cuts in American companies has worsened, with an average of 2,500 people being laid off every week in the four weeks leading up to November 1.
The data released by ADP, a payroll processing company, indicates that the labor market in the United States lost momentum in late October, despite the rate of job losses seeming to slow down as November began.
With the government shutdown that lasted for 43 days causing delays in the release of official employment data, the data provided by ADP helps fill the information gap in the labor market during this period. Although funding for official statistical agencies has been restored, it is still unclear when the government economic data for October will be released.
ADP’s nationwide employment report for October, released on November 5, showed that about 42,000 jobs were added by private companies in the United States that month, after declines in the previous two months.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics under the U.S. Department of Labor is set to release the employment report for September on Thursday, with expectations that the data will show an increase of 55,000 jobs in the United States compared to August.
Another data previously released on the Labor Department’s website showed that in the week ending October 18, there were 232,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States, roughly the same as mid-September. Since the federal government shutdown, this report, which should be published weekly, has not been released thereafter.
Prior to the latest weekly layoff data released by ADP, many major companies including Amazon and Target announced layoffs this month.
A report released by the job placement company “Challenger, Gray & Christmas” on November 6 showed that the number of job cuts announced by U.S. companies last month exceeded 153,000, a 183% increase compared to September and a 175% surge compared to the same period last year, marking the highest increase in layoffs for October since 2003. The main reason for this record high level of job cuts is the continuous impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market, with the technology industry seeing the most layoffs.
The data from this job placement company also indicates that the total number of job cuts announced by U.S. companies in the first 10 months of this year has surpassed one million, a 65% increase compared to the same period last year, making this year the most severe in terms of layoffs since 2009.
Meanwhile, the number of people companies plan to hire has decreased by 35% compared to last year, reaching the lowest level since 2011.
(Reference: Bloomberg)