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Layoffs in the US at a 5-year-high
Layoffs in the U.S. are at a five-year-high due to AI, tariffs and more. FOX 9's Courtney Godfrey has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The U.S. job market is facing significant challenges with over one million layoffs this year, raising concerns among economists about future economic hardships.
Layoffs reach a five-year high
What we know:
More than one million American workers have been laid off this year, marking the highest annual job cuts in five years. This surge in layoffs is attributed to factors such as artificial intelligence, tariffs, and corporate restructuring.
What they're saying:
"Underneath this relatively rosy unemployment number you see a lot of red flags," said Alan Benson, a labor economist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. "Especially the red flags you would look for if you were trying to anticipate what was coming down the pipe."
Impact on corporate roles
Dig deeper:
The layoffs are more focused on white-collar jobs. For instance, Minnesota-based Target recently cut 1,800 corporate roles in departments like finance, tech, and HR. Artificial intelligence alone has been cited for nearly 55,000 layoffs this year.
The backstory:
With the exception of the pandemic, you have to go back to 2009, during the depths of the Great Recession, to find a year with more job cuts than what we're experiencing right now.