Hiring plans among US employers for the year through September hit their lowest level since 2009, with only 204,939 new jobs planned compared to 483,590 last year. Seasonal hiring announcements dropped significantly, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Job cut announcements for the year reached 946,426, the highest since 2020, but down 37% from August. Challenger, Gray & Christmas predicts job cuts may surpass a million for the first time since 2020, driven by various factors including federal government layoffs and responses to economic uncertainty.

Private firms like Challenger and ADP are gaining attention for fresh workforce data as the government shutdown delays the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September jobs report. Market watchers are closely monitoring these reports for insights into the health of the labor market.

The sluggish hiring and high job cut announcements are attributed to economic uncertainty, tariffs, inflation, and store closings. AI played a lesser role in job cuts, with 17,375 cuts explicitly linked to artificial intelligence, according to the report.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: US hiring plans sink to lowest since 2009 in September as labor market slowdown continues