Thursday May 3, 11:26 am Eastern Time
US corporate layoffs highest since '93-Challenger
(UPDATE: Adds comment, detail)
NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - Job cuts announced by U.S. companies hit a record high in April
-- the highest since the survey began in 1993 -- and were four times higher than in the same month a
year earlier, a research group said on Thursday.
In a sign that companies are coping with a U.S.
economic slowdown by slashing payrolls,
165,564 new job cuts were announced in April compared with 162,867 in March,
according to international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
It was the fifth consecutive month in which more than 100,000 job cuts, a survey
record, were announced.
During the first four months this year companies have announced 572,370 planned
job cuts compared with just 179,144 during the same period last year, Challenger
said.
Earlier, the Labor Department said a four-week moving average of first-time claims
for unemployment insurance rose to their highest level since late 1992.
Both reports come just a day before a key employment report for April will be released and pointed to further weakness in the labor
market, analysts said.
``It all smells of a weak employment report tomorrow,'' said Astrid Adolfson, an economist at MCM Moneywatch. ``It wouldn't
surprise me if we get a negative employment number.''
Economists polled by Reuters expect the report to show a rise in the unemployment rate to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent and for U.S.
payrolls to add just 5,000 jobs after the economy shed 86,000 jobs in March.
Economists fear a sharp rise in unemployment could cause further undermine consumer confidence and provoke a pull-back in
spending, exacerbating the current economic slowdown.
The Challenger report said telecommunications companies, computer companies and financial firms announced the highest number of
layoffs in April.
``The fact that telecom, computer and electronics companies are among the top five job cutters in 2001 is a result of corporations
reining in technology spending,'' said John Challenger, chief executive at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Telecommunications companies said they would cut 26,464 in April, pushing it ahead of the auto industry as the sector with the highest
number of planned job cuts this year. Computer companies said they would 18,498 jobs, while financial firms said they planned to cut
16,515 jobs.
So far this year telecommunication companies have announced 91,799 job cuts, while automakers have said they planned to lay off
81,903 workers.
Computer companies have announced 53,774 job cuts, while electronics firms have said they would lay off 46,668 employees and
retailers have announced 44,673 job cuts. |
