April: US Employers Announce 83,387 Job Cuts, a 38% Increase from March

@Signal and Noise: April: US employers announced 83,387 job cuts, a 38% increase from March. Artificial intelligence was the leading cause for the second consecutive month, accounting for 21,490 cuts (a quarter of the total).

Year-to-date, AI has been cited in 49,135 planned job cuts (accounting for 16% of the 2026 total).

Top 4 industries with the most job cuts year-to-date in 2026:

Technology — 85,411
Transportation — 33,479
Healthcare/Products — 27,162
Education — 15,260

Top 4 industries with the most hiring year-to-date in 2026:

Automotive — 12,258
Entertainment/Leisure — 8,261
Aerospace/Defense — 7,366
Government — 7,268