Job cuts expand in August; Private-sector hiring slows; Home price growth hits 12-year low

U.S.-based employers announced 85,979 job reductions during August, up 39% from the prior month and 13% higher than a year earlier, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The outplacement firm said that was the highest August tally since 2020, when 115,762 jobs were cut in the early pandemic period.

“After the impact of DOGE on the federal government, employers are citing economic and market factors as the driver of layoffs,” Senior Vice President Andrew Challenger said in a statement Thursday, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency. He cited a “spike in cuts” during 2025 stemming from business actions such as bankruptcy filings and store closings.

Cuts for the first eight months of 2025 were led by categories including government at 295,273, including 2,979 in August; technology at 102,239 with 12,988 in August; and retail at 83,656 after 3,189 August reductions. Real estate companies announced 72 cuts in August and 1,533 year to date, down from 4,692 in the first eight months of 2024.

U.S. companies announced a total of 892,362 job cuts in the first eight months, the highest for that span since 2020’s total that topped 1.9 million. Challenger analysts said August marked the sixth time this year that announced reductions surpassed the year-earlier figure. 

Private U.S. employers added just 54,000 jobs in August, marking a continued slowdown in hiring as companies deal with economic uncertainties including effects of trade tariffs, according to the latest tracking by payroll services provider ADP and Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab.

“The year started with strong job growth, but that momentum has been whipsawed by uncertainty,” ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said in a statement Thursday. She said several factors could be contributing to uncertainty among private employers, such as labor shortages, skittish consumers and disruptions created by artificial intelligence technologies.

Anonymized payroll data from ADP client firms showed August job gains led by leisure and hospitality at 50,000, construction at 16,000 and business services at 15,000. Notable decliners included trade and transportation at 17,000, education and health services at 12,000 and manufacturing at 7,000.

Pay at U.S. private firms rose at an average annual rate of 4.4%. The ADP-Stanford report is considered a preview of the government’s monthly report on public and private nonfarm hiring, with August figures including the unemployment rate slated for release Friday, Sept. 5.

Single-family home prices grew at an annual national rate of 3.8% in the second quarter, the lowest year-over-year rate since 2013, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Home prices have been rising steadily since 2020, though the trade group reported continued slowing in average price growth caused by factors such as elevated interest rates and rising inventory of homes listed for sale.

Citing Federal Housing Finance Agency data tracking repeat sales and refinancings, NAHB analysts noted the District of Columbia and 27 metropolitan regions posted modest annual price declines for the quarter. Still, all 50 states registered positive growth, led by Connecticut and New York each at 7.5%.

The latest lender survey by government-backed finance agency Freddie Mac showed 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaging 6.5% for the week ended Sept. 4. That was down from the prior week’s 6.56% but higher than the year-earlier average of 6.35%.