US Employers Announced Just 90,787 Hires in September, the Lowest for the Month Since 2011: Is Anyone Hiring?

US employers announced plans to hire 90,787 workers in September 2026, the weakest September since 2011, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That is 23% below the 117,313 announced in September 2025. Layoff announcements fell too, so this is a cautious market, not a collapsing one.

What did Challenger report for September 2026 hiring?

Challenger counted 90,787 announced hiring plans in September, up from 12,325 in August as seasonal announcements began. The September 2025 figure was 117,313, and the 2011 figure, the previous low for the month, was 76,551, per the Challenger report, published 1 October 2026.

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 1 October 2026; August figures from its August report, 2 September 2026.

Challenger counts public announcements by employers. It is not a count of people actually hired.

Is anyone still hiring, and which sectors?

Retail dominates the September number, and almost nothing else is large. Retail announced 65,150 planned hires, followed by aerospace and defense at 5,300 and utilities at 4,200 (Challenger). By simple arithmetic, retail is about 72% of the month's plans, which leaves roughly 25,600 for every other industry combined.

Year to date, the picture is broader. Retail leads with 66,557, followed by technology at 22,361 and aerospace and defense at 21,841, according to Challenger's report as relayed by TheStreet Pro. TheStreet puts the year-ago comparisons at 7,070 for technology and 5,186 for aerospace and defense. Retail's year-to-date plans are below the 96,700 a year ago, according to TheStreet.

In August, the leading industries for hiring plans were aerospace and defense (4,025), technology (2,520) and industrial goods (1,856) (Challenger August report).

Why is September hiring the lowest since 2011?

Seasonal retail announcements were thin, and Challenger's chief revenue officer, Andy Challenger, describes employers as cautious. He said, "Companies are in a wait-and-see period right now," and "we're not seeing the surge of hiring plans that come with the holiday season." He pointed to high energy costs, an uncertain war in Iran, a possible rate hike and rising healthcare costs, as summarised by Bloomberg via CPA Practice Advisor.

Only two retailers had announced seasonal plans in the Challenger report. Spirit Halloween and Michaels announced a combined 62,000 seasonal hires, against a combined 100,800 in September 2025 (Challenger). Challenger added a correction to its post: an earlier version implied those two retailers cut their own plans, which was wrong. The drop reflects fewer seasonal employers announcing, not those two scaling back.

Are hiring plans still up for the year?

Yes, but barely. Year-to-date plans are 210,612, up 3% from 204,939 through September 2025. Through August the lead was 37%: 119,825 plans against 87,626 (Challenger August report).

One weak month erased most of a large lead. That also says something about the base: according to TheStreet Pro, full-year 2025 hiring plans totalled 507,647, the lowest since 2010. A 3% gain over a very low year is not a strong market.

Did layoffs rise at the same time?

No. Challenger counted 43,281 announced job cuts in September, down 18% from August's 52,881 and the lowest September since 2022, when it counted 29,989. Year-to-date cuts are 573,195, down 39% from 946,426 a year earlier (Challenger).

Part of that decline is a base effect. Government cuts are down 92% because of the DOGE-related announcements of 2025. Excluding government, year-to-date cuts are 550,185 against 646,671, a 15% decline.

Within September, the pressure points were specific:

• Technology: 10,799 cuts, up 77% from August, and 165,925 year to date, which is 29% of all 2026 announced cuts.
• Food: 7,326 cuts, of which 5,396 came from Washington orchards and agricultural employers filing WARN notices that cite a demand downturn.
• Non-profits: 4,742 cuts, the highest month of 2026.

Artificial intelligence was only the fifth most cited reason in September, at 3,961 cuts or about 9% of the month. It remains the leading reason year to date, at 120,136 or about 21% of all cuts.

For named employers, see our coverage of ServiceNow's reported layoffs, Uber's reported 10% staff reduction and the WARN notice data for the last 90 days.

What does the official jobs report say?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 29,000 in September 2026 and the unemployment rate was 4.2%, up from 4.1% in August (BLS, 2 October 2026). BLS also revised July down to a loss of 10,000 and August down to a gain of 133,000.

The Bloomberg wire story published the day before the BLS release said economists expected unemployment of 4.1% and payroll growth of about 90,000. The actual payroll gain was well below that.

BLS sector detail shows where jobs were added and lost in September:

Average hourly earnings for private employees were $37.81, up 3.0% over 12 months (BLS, as of 2 October 2026). Health care is the one large sector adding jobs steadily in the official data, which fits Challenger's picture of selective hiring.

What does the holiday hiring outlook look like?

Challenger projects about 450,000 seasonal retail hires in the fourth quarter of 2026, down 2.5% from 461,500 in the fourth quarter of 2025, as reported by HR Dive on 5 October 2026. The 2025 total was the smallest seasonal gain since 2008.

Spirit Halloween announced more than 52,000 seasonal associates and Michaels more than 10,000. As of that report, Amazon, Bath & Body Works, Target and Kohl's had not published 2026 seasonal numbers. Late announcements from those chains could lift October and November totals without changing the underlying trend.

What should job seekers do now?

Aim at sectors with sustained demand and use employers' own career pages. The data above points to technology, aerospace and defense, and health care as the places adding positions, and to retail as mostly temporary work.

1. Check employer career pages directly. Challenger counts announcements, not open roles, so confirm that a position exists before you plan around it.
2. Plan for a longer search. With employers in a wait-and-see mode, expect slower decisions rather than fewer openings alone.
3. Treat seasonal retail as a bridge. Those roles are temporary by design.
4. Watch large-company results. Hiring from big employers shows up in headcount figures, as in our look at TCS adding to headcount for a third straight quarter.

What's still unclear?

Several things limit what September's number can tell you.

• Timing versus demand. Amazon, Target, Kohl's and Bath & Body Works had not published seasonal plans when Challenger and HR Dive reported. If they announce in October, the weak September may partly reflect timing.
• Announcements are a narrow measure. Challenger tracks public announcements. Employers that hire without announcing do not appear, and BLS payroll data measures something different.
• The two datasets disagree on direction. Challenger shows fewer cuts, BLS shows weak job growth (+29,000), and BLS revised the prior two months down by 60,000 combined.
• Year-to-date comparisons are noisy. The 3% lead depends on a low 2025 base and on technology and aerospace and defense plans that are several times last year's levels.
• The cause is not settled. Andy Challenger cites energy costs, the Iran war, a possible rate hike and healthcare costs. Challenger does not attribute the September shortfall to a single factor.