Layoff announcements this year have hit their highest level since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the U.S. economy, consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday.

U.S.-based employers have announced plans this year to eliminate nearly 1.2 million jobs through the end of November.

It’s only the sixth time since 1993 that announced job cuts through the month of November have surpassed 1.1 million. The last time was in 2020, when planned cuts totaled 2.3 million by this point in the year.

U.S.-based employers announced 71,321 job cuts in November, Challenger reports. This is fewer than the overall number of layoffs announced in October, but more than in the same month a year ago.

It’s the highest total for the month of November since 2022. Hiring often fluctuates with the season, so economists and analysts typically pay close attention to data from the same month in previous years, and not just month-to-month changes.

Announced job cuts during November “have risen above 70,000 only twice since 2008: in 2022 and 2008,” Challenger’s chief revenue officer, Andy Challenger, said in a statement.

Some of the industries that Challenger said were hit hardest by layoffs last month included technology, food companies and telecommunications firms.

Verizon, one of the nation’s largest telecom firms, announced plans to cut 13,000 jobs in November.

Normally the Challenger report carries relatively little weight among market participants and economists because it only tracks publicly announced job cuts, most of which haven’t happened yet. While the announcements are made by U.S.-based firms, Challenger includes cuts to jobs overseas in its tally for multinational firms.

This report, however, comes in the midst of a historic data void created by the government shutdown, which furloughed employees at many of the federal government’s statistical agencies that collect and publish economic data.

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