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Economy in Brief
Delay in Release
of Data for Construction, MSIO, Intl Trade, Wholesale Trade, Treasury Statement, Retail Sales, Business Sales & Inventories, and Housing Starts Due to Lapse in Federal Government Funding.
U.S. Energy Prices Generally Move Higher
Retail gasoline prices were unchanged at $2.25 per gallon last week (-12.3% y/y)...
Japan Logs Another Trade Deficit
Japan logged a deficit on its trade account of 184 billion yen in Decmber...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Drop to Three-Year Low
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell a greater-than-expected 6.4% in December...
Philadelphia Fed Nonmanufacturing Business Activity Slumps Again in January
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its Nonmanufacturing Business Index of current conditions at the company level slumped further to -0.2 in January...
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 |
