Recent Updates
- UK NCI Index (Dec)
- Moldova: Industrial Production (Oct), CPI (Nov)
- Chile: Economic Expectations (Dec)
- US: Manpower Employment Outlook Survey (Q1), NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (Nov)
- Ireland: Property Price Index (Oct), Foreign Reserves (Nov)
- Lithuania: HICP (Nov), PPI (Nov-Prelim)
- Hungary: CPI, Average Fuel Prices (Nov)
- South Africa: Employment (Q3); Mining & Manufacturing Production
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
OECD LEIs Point to Weakness
OECD LEIs point to weakness ahead for the OECD area as well as separately for the OECD seven largest economies, the euro area, and the U.S....
U.S. Employment and Earnings Gains Weaken Unexpectedly
Labor market strength eased during November...
Wholesale Inventories Grow While Sales Decline
Wholesale inventories increased 0.8% month-on-month (6.9% year-over-year) during October...
U.S. Consumer Credit Usage Expands
Consumer credit outstanding increased $25.38 billion during October...
German IP Takes Surprising October Slip
Germany's industrial production slowed to a gain of only 0.1% in September then dropped by 0.5% in October...
by Tom Moeller August 3, 2005
Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements fell 7.2% in July to 102,971 but that followed sharp gains both in May (42.2%) and June (34.9%). The three month average of job cut announcements rose to the highest level (98,750) since February.
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 in the automotive industry fell sharply after increasing ten-fold in June. Job cuts also fell in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries but increases were quite strong in the financial, insurance, electronics and computer industries.
Job cut announcements differ from layoffs. Many are achieved through attrition, early retirement or just never occur.
Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans rose (1.1% y/y).
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | July | June | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 102,971 | 110,996 | 48.0% | 1,039,175 | 1,236,426 | 1,431,052 |
