WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Layoffs announced by U.S. employers surged in January amid losses of business contracts and an uncertain economic environment, marking the highest level for the month in 17 years, a survey showed on Thursday.

Planned layoffs soared 205% to 108,435 last month, global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. That was the highest reading for any January since 2009 when the Great Recession was drawing to a close. Announced layoffs were 118% higher compared with January 2025.

"Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026."

The increase was led by the transportation industry, with 31,243 planned cuts, related to United Parcel Service UPS.N.

The world's largest package delivery company said last month it would eliminate up to 30,000 jobs and shut another 24 facilities in 2026 as it reduces deliveries for Amazon.com AMZN.O. This is part of UPS' ongoing shift toward more profitable business.

The technology industry announced 22,291 job cuts, the bulk of them from Amazon, which announced plans to lay off 16,000 corporate employees. These planned layoffs will probably not have a significant impact on weekly unemployment claims data. High-profile layoffs last year, including by the two companies, did not result in a notable jump in jobless claims.

There were also notable planned job cuts in the healthcare sector, attributed in part to lower reimbursements for federal government-funded Medicaid and Medicare programs.

Loss of contracts was the major reason for planned layoffs last month, closely followed by market and economic conditions. Other reasons included restructuring, store, unit or department closures. Artificial intelligence accounted for 7% of total planned layoffs.

"It's difficult to say how big an impact AI is having on layoffs specifically," said Challenger. "We know leaders are talking about AI, many companies want to implement it in operations, and the market appears to be rewarding companies that mention it."

Hiring plans remained lackluster, with only 5,306 intentions announced, the lowest total for January since Challenger started tracking the series in 2009. Most of the plans were in the insurance sector.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

((Lucia.Mutikani@thomsonreuters.com))