[U.S. January Planned Layoffs Surge to Highest Level in 17 Years] Reported by Jinse Finance, data released on Thursday showed that due to reduced business contracts and economic uncertainty, the number of layoffs announced by U.S. employers in January surged, reaching the highest level for the month in 17 years. Employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas stated that the planned layoffs last month skyrocketed by 118% year-on-year to 108,435, marking the highest January record since the end of the global economic recession in 2009. "Typically, the number of layoffs in the first quarter tends to be higher, but the total layoffs in January this year are exceptionally high," said Andy Challenger, the company's Chief Revenue Officer. "This indicates that most of these layoff plans were formulated at the end of 2025, suggesting that employers are not optimistic about the outlook for 2026." The surge in layoffs was primarily driven by the transportation sector, with layoff plans related to United Parcel Service reaching 31,243. The tech industry announced 22,291 layoffs, most of which came from Amazon, which revealed plans to cut 16,000 corporate employees. Additionally, the healthcare sector also saw significant planned layoffs, partly due to reduced reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare insurance programs funded by the federal government. (Jin10)