The U.S. Labor Department’s economic report won’t be published for the second month due to the government shutdown. Companies like Amazon, UPS, and Target have announced significant layoffs. Job cuts tripled from last year, with 153,074 cuts in October alone, up 183% from September, creating a snowball effect on the job market.

Challenger, Gray, & Christmas reports that U.S. companies have announced the fewest new jobs since 2011, with 1.1 million job cuts through October, a 65% increase from last year. The job market is weakening, with 488,077 planned hires, marking the lowest level since 2011. Warehousing job cuts are up, affecting seasonal hiring.

Employers are cutting jobs unevenly, with more companies announcing job cuts. Blue-collar jobs are declining, while white-collar job losses are accelerating. Warehousing, retail, and tech industries have seen significant job cuts. Employers are hiring significantly fewer seasonal workers than in previous years, with a weak seasonal hiring environment expected in 2025.

Major companies like Amazon, Target, Salesforce, and Oracle are reducing headcount ahead of the holidays. Tech market intelligence firm UnearthInsight predicts up to 500,000 white-collar software workers could be laid off in the next few years. Critics argue that blaming AI for job cuts is a cover-up for overhiring during the pandemic, not true efficiency gains.

Companies like Ubisoft are expected to announce “soft layoffs” following the trend of job cuts in the tech industry. TheStreet reported on the shocking job data, painting a bleak picture of the job market in 2025. The job cuts have created a domino effect, eroding the job market further and weakening job creation.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Shocking jobs data resets recession bets