Worker Displacement News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, August 27, 2026                                  USDL-26-1423

Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                                 WORKER DISPLACEMENT: 2023-2025


From January 2023 through December 2025, there were 3.3 million workers displaced from jobs
they had held for at least 3 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This
was up by 746,000 workers from the prior survey period covering January 2021 to December 2023.
In January 2026, 66.1 percent of long-tenured workers displaced from 2023 to 2025 were
reemployed, little different from the percentage in January 2024.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office sponsored the January 2026 survey to
collect information on workers who were displaced from their jobs. Since 1984, these surveys
have been conducted biennially in January as supplements to the Current Population Survey
(CPS), a monthly survey of households that is the primary source of information on the
nation's labor force. For further information, see the Technical Note in this news release.

Displaced workers are defined as people 20 years of age and over who report that they lost or
left jobs because their plant or company closed down or moved, there was insufficient work for
them to do, or their position or shift was abolished. The period covered in this study was
January 2023 to December 2025, the 3 calendar years prior to the January 2026 survey date.

The following analysis focuses primarily on the 3.3 million people who had worked for their
employer for 3 or more years at the time of displacement (referred to as long-tenured
workers). An additional 4.1 million people were displaced from jobs they had held for less
than 3 years (referred to as short-tenured workers). Combining the short- and long-tenured
groups, the number of displaced workers totaled 7.4 million from 2023 to 2025. This is up from
6.3 million for the 2021-23 survey period.

Highlights from the January 2026 survey:

 --In January 2026, 66.1 percent of the 3.3 million long-tenured displaced workers were
   reemployed, similar to 65.7 percent in January 2024. (See table 1.)

 --In the 2023-25 period, 44.4 percent of long-tenured displaced workers lost their job
   because their position or shift was abolished. An additional 32.6 percent lost their job
   because their plant or company closed down or moved, and 22.9 percent were displaced due to
   insufficient work. (See table 2.)

 --Nineteen percent of long-tenured displaced workers lost a job in manufacturing, 16 percent
   lost a job in professional and business services, and 10 percent lost a job in retail trade.
   (See table 4.)

Characteristics of the Displaced

At the time of the survey in January 2026, 66.1 percent of the 3.3 million long-tenured
displaced workers were reemployed, similar to 65.7 percent in the January 2024 survey. The
proportion unemployed at the time of the most recent survey was 18.3 percent, little different
from 16.1 percent in January 2024. The remaining 15.7 percent of long-tenured displaced
workers were not in the labor force in January 2026, also little different from 18.2 percent
from the previous survey. (See table 1.)

The reemployment rate was 72.9 percent in January 2026 for those ages 25 to 54, little changed 
from the prior survey. Reemployment rates continued to be lower for older workers; the rates 
for those ages 55 to 64 (57.3 percent) and for those age 65 and older (38.6 percent) also changed 
little.

Among long-tenured displaced workers, men and women had similar reemployment rates in January
2026 (68.0 percent and 64.0 percent, respectively), both little different from the prior
survey. The proportion of long-tenured displaced men who were unemployed in January 2026 was
15.1 percent, little changed from the share in January 2024. The share of displaced women who
were unemployed was 21.7 percent in January 2026, also little changed from the prior survey.
The shares of male and female displaced workers who left the labor force were little changed
from the prior survey, at 17.0 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively. The proportion of
displaced men ages 55 to 64 leaving the labor force decreased by 17.0 percentage points to
19.6 percent in January 2026.

In January 2026, the reemployment rates for long-tenured displaced White workers (66.9
percent), Black workers (60.9 percent), and Hispanic workers (64.2 percent) changed little
from the prior survey. The reemployment rate for Asian workers increased by 21.8 percentage
points to 85.3 percent in January 2026. The proportions of long-tenured displaced workers who
were unemployed for each of the major race and ethnicity groups were little changed from the
prior survey.

Reason for Job Loss and Receipt of Advance Notice 

Of the 3.3 million long-tenured workers displaced between January 2023 and December 2025, 
44.4 percent lost their job because their position or shift was abolished, an additional 
32.6 percent lost or left their jobs due to plant or company closings or moves, and 22.9 percent
were displaced due to insufficient work. (See table 2.)

From 2023 to 2025, about 45 percent of long-tenured displaced workers received written advance
notice that their jobs would be terminated. Among workers who lost jobs during the 2023-25
period due to plant or company closings or moves, about 58 percent received written advance
notice. By comparison, about 42 percent of workers who were displaced because their position
or shift was abolished and about 32 percent of those who lost jobs due to insufficient work
were notified in advance. For each of these displacement groups, reemployment rates were not
statistically different for those who received written advance notice and those who did not.
(See table 3.)

Industry and Occupation

During the 2023 to 2025 period, 642,000 long-tenured manufacturing workers were displaced from
their jobs, an increase of 215,000 from the prior survey. These manufacturing workers made up
19 percent of all long-tenured displaced workers in January 2026. These displacements occurred
mostly in durable goods manufacturing (447,000). For the 2023 to 2025 period, workers in
professional and business services accounted for 16 percent of all long-tenured displacements,
and those in retail trade accounted for 10 percent of all displacements. (See table 4.)

In January 2026, the reemployment rates for workers displaced from most of the major industry
groups were not statistically different from the rates in January 2024. However, the
reemployment rates for workers in leisure and hospitality (55.3 percent) and government 
(57.8 percent) declined from the prior survey, while the rate for information (76.8 percent)
increased in January 2026. (Workers were not necessarily reemployed in the same industries
from which they were displaced.)

By major occupational group, the reemployment rates for workers displaced from each group
changed little from the prior survey and were little different from each other in January
2026. The January 2026 rates were 69.2 percent for sales and office occupations; 67.4 percent
for natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations; 65.3 percent for management,
professional, and related occupations; 65.3 percent for production, transportation, and
material moving occupations; and 65.2 percent for service occupations. Among workers displaced
from professional and related occupations, the proportion unemployed rose to 20.4 percent from
the prior survey period. The proportion of displaced workers in natural resources,
construction, and maintenance occupations who were not in the labor force declined to 17.4 percent
from the prior survey, while the proportion for transportation and material moving occupations
rose to 22.0 percent. (See table 5.)

Geographic Divisions

Comparing the 2023-25 period with the 2021-23 period, the number of long-tenured displaced
workers increased for the South Atlantic and West South Central divisions but changed little
for the other geographic divisions of the United States. Reemployment rates by geographic
division ranged from about 73 percent in the West South Central division to about 60 percent
in the West North Central division. The share of long-tenured displaced workers who were
unemployed in January 2026 by geographic division ranged from about 27 percent in the Middle
Atlantic division to about 10 percent in the Pacific division. The share of long-tenured
displaced workers that left the labor force ranged from about 21 percent in the South Atlantic
and the Pacific divisions to about 6 percent in the West South Central division in January
2026. (See table 6.)

Earnings

Of the 1.9 million long-tenured displaced workers who lost full-time wage and salary jobs
during the 2023-25 period and were reemployed in January 2026, 1.6 million had full-time wage
and salary jobs. In January 2026, of the reemployed full-time wage and salary workers who
reported earnings on their lost job, about 49 percent were earning as much or more than they
did at their lost job, compared with about 62 percent from the prior survey in January 2024.
(See table 7.)

Total Displaced Workers (With No Tenure Restriction)

The total number of workers displaced between January 2023 and December 2025 (regardless of
how long they had held their jobs) was 7.4 million, up by 1.2 million from the prior survey.
Of the total number of displaced workers over the 2023-25 period, 67.6 percent were reemployed
in January 2026, little different from the January 2024 survey. The share of displaced workers
who were unemployed in January 2026 was 19.3 percent, up from 16.4 percent in the prior
survey. The proportion not in the labor force was 13.1 percent in January 2026, little
different from the 2024 survey. (See table 8.)

Technical Note

   The data presented in this news release were collected through a supplement to the January 2026 Current 
Population Survey (CPS), the monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible households that provides basic
data on employment and unemployment for the nation.  The CPS is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau
for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The purpose of this supplement was to obtain information
on the number and characteristics of people who had been displaced (as defined below) from their
jobs over the prior 3 calendar years. The collection of these data is sponsored by the Department of
Labor's Chief Evaluation Office.
   
   Additional information, reports, and archived news releases are available at
www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#displaced. 

   Data presented in this news release are based on Census 2020 population controls that are updated
annually in January. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.

   If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access
telecommunications relay services.

Reliability of the estimates
   
   Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a sample,
rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample estimates may
differ from the true population values they represent. The component of this difference that occurs
because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its variability is measured by the
standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an 
estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population
value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of
confidence.

   The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons,
including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain information for
all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct 
information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.

   Information about the reliability of national data from the CPS and instructions on how to generate
standard errors are available at www.bls.gov/cps/methods/reliability-of-CPS-estimates.htm. 

Concepts and questions
  
   Displaced workers are wage and salary workers 20 years of age and over who lost or left jobs because
their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position 
or shift was abolished. Data are often presented for long-tenured displaced workers--those who had
worked for their employer for 3 or more years at the time of displacement.

   Wage and salary workers receive wages, salaries, commissions, tips, payment in kind, or piece rates. 
The group includes employees in both the private and public sectors but excludes all self-employed people,
both those with incorporated businesses as well as those with unincorporated businesses.

Data discussed in this news release on displaced workers were obtained from the following questions:

   (This question was asked of all people 20 years and over.) During the last 3 calendar years, that is, 
January 2023 through December 2025, did (you/name) lose a job or leave one because: (your/his/her)
plant or company closed or moved, (your/his/her) position or shift was abolished, insufficient work,
or another similar reason?

   (If the respondent answered "yes" to the above question on job loss, the following question was
   then asked.) Which of these specific reasons describes why (name/you) (is/are) no longer working 
   at that job?
    Plant or company closed down or moved
    Plant or company operating but lost or left job 
    because of:
         Insufficient work
         Position or shift abolished
         Seasonal job completed
         Self-operated business failed
         Some other reason

   Respondents who provided one of the first three reasons--plant or company closed or moved, 
insufficient work, or position or shift abolished--were classified as displaced and asked additional
questions about the lost job, including how many years they had worked for their employer; the year
the job was lost; the earnings, industry, and occupation of the lost job; and whether health
insurance had been provided. Other questions were asked to determine what occurred before and after
the job loss, such as: Was the respondent notified of the upcoming dismissal?  How long did he/she
go without work? Did he/she receive unemployment benefits? And, if so, were the benefits used up? 
Did the person move to another location after the job loss to take or look for another job? 
Information also was collected about current health insurance coverage (other than Medicare
and Medicaid) and current earnings for those employed at the time of the survey.