U.S. Jan. layoffs fall 15% to 92,351
Wednesday, February 2, 2005 3:15:41 PM
WASHINGTON (AFX) - U.S. corporations announced 92,351 layoffs in January, down 15 percent from December's tally, outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas said Wednesday. It's the first month since August that planned job cuts were below 100,000, the firm said. Planned reductions were down 21 percent from January 2004
More than a third of January's layoffs were in three sectors: government, financial services and automotive, which each cut more than 10,000 jobs in January
Telecommunications companies cut fewer than 1,500 jobs in January, but that number is expected to soar in coming months. "Merger activity is starting to accelerate in many industries," said John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm. "On Monday alone, there were three major deals announced, including the mega-merger between SBC and AT&T , which is likely to result in significant job cuts." M&A activity was the second-leading cause of layoffs in January, behind cost-cutting
The Challenger data are not seasonally adjusted. Since January is typically a heavy job-cutting month, the fact that job cuts declined from December "is a sign of job market improvement," Challenger said
The Challenger survey covers only a small portion of job losses; most small businesses do not announce job reductions. The announced reductions can occur immediately or over time. They can be accomplished through layoffs or voluntary measures, such as retirement. According to government data, there were 1.53 million layoffs and involuntary discharges during November, the most recent data available. Other government statistics show that 7.31 million jobs were lost in the first quarter of the year, while 7.75 million jobs were created
In December, nonfarm payrolls grew by 157,000, up from 137,000 in November, government data show. Job growth averaged about 185,000 last year
January's payroll data will be released on Friday. Economists are predicting net growth of about 189,000
forexstreet.com |
