US job cut announcements rise 46%
ananova.com
Job cuts announced by US companies rose 46% month-on-month to 118,067 in August.
This breaks the 100,000 figure for the first time since April, according to the Challenger, Gray and Christmas monthly survey.
It's also the third highest in the year to date.
On a year-on-year basis, job cut announcements fell 16% from the 140,019 level recorded in Aug 2001.
"Some economists believe the economy is fundamentally strong and on a recovery track but the August job-cut surge suggests that employers do not necessarily agree with such an outlook," said chief executive, John Challenger.
Workers in retail sector took the brunt of the cuts announced in Aug at 22,992, the survey found.
They were followed by workers in the computer industry with 12,877 and telecommunications with 12,565.
In the first eight months, telecommunications was the hardest hit sector, with 198,601 announced job cuts ahead of the retail sector with 87,102.
Looking ahead, job cut announcements are expected to grow as companies become more transparent in reaction to a slew of corporate accounting scandals, Mr Challenger said.
Story filed: 17:54 Tuesday 3rd September 2002 |
