Challenger Gray, an employment consulting firm in the United States, reported that the total number of layoffs in August reached the highest level for the same period since 2020. Excluding 2020, this is the highest total number of layoffs in August since the peak period of the financial crisis in 2008, when 88,736 layoffs were announced in August that year. There have been six instances this year where the monthly total of layoffs has exceeded the level of the same month last year.