• U.S. employers slowed layoffs in December, with the fewest announced job cuts since July, although the total for all of 2023 was the highest since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, a report out Thursday showed.
• Announced job cuts totalled 34,817 in December, down 24% from 45,510 in November, according to data released by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Announced layoffs fell 20% from December 2022.
• For the year, though, announced layoffs roughly doubled from 2022 to more than 720,000. That was the highest since 2020 when over 2 million job cuts were reported, the report said.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-job-cuts-fall-back-december-nearly-double-all-2023-2024-01-04/