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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (12858)	10/5/2004 10:25:54 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

U.S. layoff announcements leaped 45% in September Tuesday, October 5, 2004 2:15:50 PM afxpress.com WASHINGTON (AFX) -- Layoff announcements by U.S. companies surged 45 percent in September to nearly 108,000, the highest number of planned job cuts since January, outplacement firm Challenger Grey & Christmas said Tuesday Job reduction announcements are up 41 percent from September 2003, while year-to-date job cuts are down 17 percent from 2003's pace, Challenger said. The total of 107,863 announced layoffs for the month was not seasonally adjusted, the firm said "The return to six-figure job-cut levels paints a grim picture for ongoing economic growth, as such activity is generally considered a measure of how companies view future business conditions," John Challenger, chairman of the firm, said in a written statement "Historically, the period from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 is when we see the heaviest downsizing, and this year appears to be on track to repeat that trend," Challenger said. The largest cuts in September were in industries focused on computers, transportation, telecommunications and consumer products. For the third quarter, job cuts were up 20 percent to 251,585 vs. the second-quarter's 209,895 and are up 4 percent from the third quarter of 2003. The 12-month moving average, which smoothes out monthly distortions in the data, increased by 3 percent to 90,722 Challenger also said corporations announced 16,166 job openings in September, the lowest since Challenger began tracking hiring announcements in May Challenger tracks announcements by corporations about hiring and firing, not actual job reductions or additions, which can take months to be accomplished. The figures come just days before the Labor Department reports on September nonfarm payrolls and the monthly unemployment rate. Economists are expecting a tepid gain of about 140,000 nonfarm jobs in September, in part because powerful hurricanes rocked the South The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.4 percent when the data are released on Friday morning