UBS managing director and senior portfolio supervisor Jason Katz joins Varney & Co. to debate the rotation and rally within the markets and his concern over the Feds subsequent transfer relating to charges.
U.S. employers ramped up layoffs in Might because the synthetic intelligence (AI) rollout was the main issue cited by corporations slicing their workforces, new knowledge reveals.
Corporations introduced 97,006 job cuts in Might – a rise of 16% from the 83,387 cuts in April and a rise of three% from the 93,816 cuts introduced final Might, in line with a current report by world outplacement and government teaching agency Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
AI was the main motive cited for job cuts for the third consecutive month, with 38,579 cuts attributed to AI. It is the very best month-to-month whole for the explanation since Challenger started monitoring it in 2023 and accounted for 40% of all of the job cuts introduced in Might.
“The labor market is being reshaped by know-how in actual time. AI is now the main motive corporations give for slicing jobs and the first trade citing it’s know-how,” mentioned Andy Challenger, labor and office skilled and chief income officer of Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
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Layoffs jumped in Might in contrast with April and are up modestly from final 12 months, the report discovered. (Allison Joyce/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures)
The tech sector introduced 38,242 job cuts in Might – the very best for the sector since August 2024. In 2026 up to now, tech companies have introduced 123,653 cuts, which is a rise of 66% from the identical interval in 2025, and it leads different sectors in job cuts this 12 months by a large margin.
“AI is not but the jobpocalypse some predicted. Like spreadsheets and e mail earlier than it, the know-how will in the end make staff extra productive, however our knowledge reveals corporations are already performing on it, citing AI for extra cuts than every other motive,” Challenger defined.
“The open query is not whether or not AI modifications the workforce, however how briskly,” he added.
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Corporations are reevaluating their workforces amid the surge of funding in AI and its implementation in company workflows. (Pete Kiehart/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures)
The transportation sector introduced the second-most job cuts in Might with 6,909 cuts, bringing the 2026 whole to 40,388 and a rise of 449% from the identical interval a 12 months in the past.
Companies companies reduce 6,268 jobs in Might to deliver the sector’s 2026 whole to 17,065 – a lower of 61% from the identical interval final 12 months.
Healthcare and merchandise producers have additionally introduced 30,414 job cuts up to now this 12 months, which represents a 17% improve from the identical interval a 12 months in the past.
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AI has been the main motive cited for layoffs for 3 straight months, the report discovered. (iStock)
Chapter-related layoffs had been the second-leading motive cited for job cuts, accounting for five,637 in Might. That is probably the most bankruptcy-linked layoffs since February 2025 when 35,172 had been introduced.
Market and financial circumstances have been cited for 69,645 cuts in 2026 up to now, whereas closings accounted for 66,733 and mergers and acquisitions had been attributed to a different 11,989 in that interval. The variety of job cuts linked to mergers and acquisitions is up greater than six-fold from the 1,889 attributed to that motive in the identical interval final 12 months.
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“On prime of the headline AI story, we’re seeing a pointy rise in cuts tied to mergers and acquisitions and a soar in bankruptcy-related losses, which tells me corporations are restructuring aggressively as they reposition for an AI-driven financial system,” Challenger mentioned.
