Announced layoffs by U.S. employers pushed the year's total further past 1 million in November, as companies trimmed payrolls amid restructuring, growing use of artificial intelligence, and tariff pressures, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday.

Year-to-date job cuts are at their highest since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when 2.2 million layoffs were recorded.

"Layoff plans fell last month, certainly a positive sign. That said, job cuts in November have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and in 2008," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The technology industry announced the most job cuts in 2024 (153,536), followed by retail (91,954) and services (69,089).

In November, restructuring was the top driver of job cuts, with 20,217 announcements, bringing the 2025 total to 128,255.

Market and economic conditions were cited for 15,755 job cuts in November, followed by artificial intelligence at 6,280 cuts.

According to the report, the Department of Government Efficiency has not been cited as a cause of job-cut announcements for two months yet "DOGE Impact" remains the leading reason for job cut announcements in 2025, cited in 293,753 planned layoffs so far this year.

The report came as processing firm ADP said Wednesday that private companies cut 32,000 workers, with small businesses hit the hardest.

"Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment," said ADP's chief economist, Nela Richardson.

"And while November's slowdown was broad-based, it was led by a pullback among small businesses."

The ADP report is jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The monthly estimate has historically diverged from the government's private payrolls count produced by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics and is the last monthly jobs picture the Federal Reserve gets before it meets Dec. 9-10.

The economy added 119,000 jobs in September, with the unemployment rate rising to a four-year high of 4.4%.

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