Lowest U.S. Job Cuts in 6 Years
U.S. employers announced the lowest number of job cuts since 2001, as the rate dropped 64% for the year ended this July, according to various news services.
Bloomberg News explains that economists focus on year-over-year numbers as opposed to monthly figures since job-cut data is not adjusted for seasonal effects.
"Revealed job cuts fell to 37,178 last month from 102,971 a year ago, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based placement firm, said yesterday," according to Bloomberg.
John A. Challenger, CEO of the placement company, told the news organization that as unemployment is still relatively low, it is more and more difficult to find skilled workers. That being the case, he says, employers could choose to keep existing employees and merely add some part-time workers.
"The Labor Department is forecast to report Aug. 4 that the jobless rate held at 4.6% in July as the economy added 145,000 jobs, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists," said Bloomberg. |
