The Receipts // Bureau of Labor Statistics · Layoffs and discharges
The Receipts by Kathryn Finney

The sectors that built the workforce are now redistributing it.

For two decades, technology, financial services, and professional services were the engines of US white-collar employment growth. Twelve months of layoff data say they have shifted from net builders to net redistributors.

Monthly layoff and discharge rate 5-year sector average
Technology and information 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
Financial services 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 services 12-mo avg 1.5% · 5-yr avg 1.4% · +0.1 pts
2.4% 1.6% 0.8% 0 Q3 2025 →5-YR AVG · 1.4%Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb
12-month receipt · sector layoff and discharge rate (%, seasonally adjusted)
Month Technology and information Financial services Professional 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
What the longest expansion in American history concentrated, the current consolidation is now redistributing. The pipeline that built knowledge work is running, just in the other direction.
Sources. US 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 series referenced on FRED: JTU5100LDR (Information / Technology and information), JTU5200LDR (Finance and insurance / Financial services), JTU540099LDR (Professional and business services / Professional services). 5-year sector averages computed across the JOLTS sector series for 2021 through 2025.
Note. Sector rates 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; see Issue 06 body for the full nonfarm read. The Q3 2025 → marker in the Professional services panel flags the inflection where this sector joined the elevated cohort.
The Receipts byKathryn Finney
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