Boeing Commercial Airplanes in January notched its largest one-month employment drop since the depths of the 2009 financial crisis, as the division’s total workforce shrank by 1,659 jobs between 28 December and 28 January, show statistics released by the company.

The division hadn’t seen a steeper one-month drop since 2009, when BCA shed more than 3,500 workers between 30 November and 31 December, according to Boeing’s statistics.

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BCA ended January 2017 with 74,795 workers, including full-time and part-time contingent labour, on the payroll, the lowest total since the division employed 74,169 workers as of 28 July 2011.

The one-month drop-off follows a more gradual reduction that began in January 2016, as Boeing moved to cut expenses and boost productivity in a year that had 14 fewer aircraft deliveries than in 2015.

Overall, BCA’s workforce is down by 10% compared to the 82,545 jobs on the division’s books as of 28 January 2015. It’s shrunk by 12.1% since BCA hit a staffing peak in the modern era with 85,132 workers at the end of November 2012.

BCA declines to elaborate on the reasons for the sharp one-month decline in January.

“We continue to follow the plan outlined to Boeing Commercial Airplanes employees in December 2016. To increase overall competitiveness and invest in our future, we are reducing costs and aligning employment levels to business and market requirements,” BCA says.