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Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Prices Ease
Gasoline prices fell four cents last week to an average $2.84 per gallon (+14.6% y/y)...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Fall Further
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index declined 1.3% during the last four weeks...
Japan’s METI Sector Indexes Rebound But Still Lag
Japan's economy continues to fight for revival...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Weaken, Dragging Down Prices
The NAR reported that sales of existing homes during September declined 3.4% to 5.150 million...
Canadian Retail Sales Weaken As Inflation Slows
Canada's retail sales show relatively widespread deceleration...
by Tom Moeller May 3, 2005
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements in April fell 33.0% to the lowest level since November 2000. The three month average of job cut announcements fell to the lowest level since last September.
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 fell sharply m/m in the consumer goods (-18.2% y/y), industrial goods (-27.1% y/y), telecommunication (-96.1% y/y) and transportation industries but declines elsewhere were limited.
Job cut announcements differ from layoffs. Many are achieved through attrition, early retirement or just never occur.
Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans recovered some of the prior month's decline with a 21.3% rise.
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | April | Mar | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 57,861 | 86,396 | -19.8% | 1,039,175 | 1,236,426 | 1,431,052 |
