·
Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements in
November rose for the third consecutive month. The 22.1% rise to 99,279
followed a 13.2% rise the prior month and pulled the three month average
of job cut announcements up to 84,139 (-19.7% y/y).
· During the last ten years there has been an 84% (inverse) correlation between the three month moving average of announced job cuts and the three month change payroll employment.
· Job cut announcements differ from layoffs. Many are achieved through attrition, early retirement or just never occur.
· The aerospace (+251% y/y) and auto (+42% y/y) industries reported notable m/m increases in layoffs as did the financial (22.0% y/y) and the pharmaceutical (1,046% y/y) industries. These increases were somewhat offset by declines in retail (-31.8% y/y) and telecommunications (-71.2% y/y).
· Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans rose sharply (413.8% y/y) for the second consecutive month.