The Receipts // BLS JOLTS · Sector Cut
The Receipts by Kathryn Finney

Not a blip. A baseline shift.

Technology, information services, and finance and insurance have posted layoff rates consistently above their 5-year sector averages. Professional and business services followed a similar curve from Q3 2025 forward.

Monthly layoff and discharge rate 5-year sector average
Information (technology, telecom, publishing) 12-mo avg 1.6% · 5-yr avg 1.4% · +0.2 pts
2.4% 1.6% 0.8% 0 5-YR AVG · 1.4% Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
Finance and insurance 12-mo avg 1.2% · 5-yr avg 1.0% · +0.2 pts
2.4% 1.6% 0.8% 0 5-YR AVG · 1.0% Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
Professional and business services 12-mo avg 1.5% · 5-yr avg 1.4% · +0.1 pts (Q3 2025+)
2.4% 1.6% 0.8% 0 5-YR AVG · 1.4% Q3 2025 → Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
12-month receipt · sector layoff and discharge rate (%, seasonally adjusted)
Month Information Finance & insurance Prof. & business services Total nonfarm
March 20251.51.01.41.0
April 20251.61.11.51.1
May 20251.51.01.41.0
June 20251.71.11.51.1
July 20251.61.21.41.1
August 20251.61.11.51.1
September 20251.71.21.71.1
October 20251.81.31.81.1
November 20251.61.21.71.1
December 20251.71.31.71.1
January 20261.51.11.61.0
February 20261.61.21.61.1
5-year sector average (2021 – 2025) 1.4 1.0 1.4 1.1
12-month average 1.6 1.2 1.5 1.1
The headline-cycle layoff rate is flat. The white-collar sectors that hire the women reading this are not. That is the receipt.
Sources. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), monthly news releases, March 2025 through February 2026, Table 5 (Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted). Sector-level series referenced on FRED: JTU5100LDR (Information), JTU5200LDR (Finance and Insurance), JTU540099LDR (Professional and Business Services). 5-year sector averages are computed across the JOLTS sector series for 2021 through 2025.
Note. Sector rates shown are rounded to the nearest 0.1 percentage point. Total nonfarm layoff and discharge rate (1.0–1.1% across the same window) is included as the headline-cycle benchmark. The story shown here is the one the headline rate hides: in the sectors where most knowledge workers sit, the rate is structurally above its 5-year baseline.
The Receipts byKathryn Finney
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