U.S.-based companies announced more than 153,000 job cuts in October, the research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday. “This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008,’ the firm said in a news release. From January through the end of October, employers have announced the elimination of nearly 1.1 million jobs. It’s the most Challenger has recorded since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the global economy. “October’s pace of job cutting was much higher than average for the month,’ Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement. The last time there was a higher October monthly total was in 2003. “Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and…
