US job cuts increased 28% MoM to 49,795 in January but were down -40% YoY. Notably, this was the lowest number of January cuts since 2022 (which was the lowest number of January cuts on record).

• Tech job cuts led with 7,488, up 128% MoM, and retail job cuts followed with 6,419 job cuts, a 96% increase.
• Why were firms cutting? Closures drove the highest number of layoffs last month with 16,123. Restructuring efforts followed closely, accounting for 12,618 job losses. Market and economic conditions were cited for 8,159 layoffs.
• US employers announced plans to hire 6,089 workers in January, a 24% decrease from the 7,999 hiring plans announced in December. It is up 13% from the 5,376 plans announced in January last year.