Far more office tenants reduced their office space usage than leased space nationwide in Q3, resulting in massive negative net absorption for the quarter. The drop followed a similar slump in the second quarter. Different companies calculate the total differently, but they all point downward in a big way.

Cushman & Wakefield puts Q3 net absorption at negative 41.3M SF, by far the largest decline in occupancy since the company started collecting data in 1995. Absorption was negative 23M SF in Q2, making the year-to-date total well over 60M SF...