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Economy in Brief
Canadian Retail Sales Weaken As Inflation Slows
Canada's retail sales show relatively widespread deceleration...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Strengthen
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.5% (7.0% y/y) during September...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Growth Continues; Pricing Pressure Eases
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index dipped to 22.2 during October...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Ease
Initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 210,000 (-8.7% y/y) during the week ended October 13...
U.K. Retail Sales: Doing Well-As-Can-Be-Expected Despite September Drop
U.K. retail sales and growth have all held up remarkably well- so far...
by Tom Moeller June 4, 2008
During May, job cut announcements continued to rise according to the Challenger, Grey & Christmas survey. A 15% increase from April to 103,522 pulled the level to its highest since December 2005. Since December announcements have more than doubled and the three-month average of announcements were at the highest level since 2006.
A rise in the three-month average of job cut announcements in services, financial and automotive sectors led the recent rise.
During the last ten years there has been a 76% (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.
Challenger also reported that announced hiring plans fell by more than one-third and reversed an April gain.
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | May | April | Y/Y | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 103,522 | 90,015 | 45.6% | 768,264 | 839,822 | 1,072,054 |
