US Challenger layoffs fall 19.9% year-on-year in September

The slowdown in the annual decline matters more than the headline drop: a 19.9% fall is still a contraction in layoff activity, but it is materially less steep than the prior reading, suggesting the rapid improvement in labor-market churn may be losing momentum. For crypto and RWA markets, this is a second-order macro signal — labor resilience feeds into rate expectations, which in turn shape risk appetite. Whether the deceleration continues into the next reading is the open question.