Recent Updates
- Canada: Wholesale Trade, MSIO (Nov)
- Canada Regional: Wholesale Trade, MSIO by Province (Nov)
- US: Philadelphia Fed Nonmfg Business Outlook Survey (Jan)
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- Ireland: PPI, WPI (Dec), Personal Bankruptcy (Q4)
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Economy in Brief
Delay in Release
of Data for Construction, MSIO, Intl Trade, Wholesale Trade, Monthly Treasury, Retail Sales, Business Sales & Inventories, and Housing Starts Due to Lapse in Federal Government Funding.
U.S. Industrial Production Celebrates 100 Years With An Increase
In the 100th anniversary of it release, industrial production rose a greater-than-expected 0.3% (3.9% year-on-year) during December...
U.K. Retail Sales Begin to Lose Momentum
U.K. retail sales fell by a sharp 1% in December...
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index Rebounds; Pricing Pressure Eases
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index increased to 17.0 during January...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Slip
Initial claims for jobless insurance eased to 213,000 (-2.6% y/y) during the week ended January 12...
by Tom Moeller January 06, 2011
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that the
level of layoffs during December fell sharply to 32,004. The level was the lowest
since June 2000. For the full year, planned layoffs totaled 529,973, down 58.9%
from 2009. Despite the decline in layoffs, the unemployment rate from the Census
Department remains high as the number of long-term unemployed has surged.
Layoffs fell in the aerospace (-17.0% y/y), chemical (-65.1% y/y), consumer goods (+41.9% y/y), entertainment/leisure (+806.2% y/y), government (-41.7% y/y), insurance (-19.9% y/y), pharmaceutical, services (+24.5% y/y) and telecommunication (-100.0% y/y) industries. Layoffs rose elsewhere. During the last ten years there has been a 67% (inverse) correlation between the three-month moving average of announced job cuts and the three-month change in payroll employment. Job cut announcements differ from layoffs. Many are achieved through attrition, early retirement or just never occur.
Challenger also samples firms' hiring plans which again fell sharply last month to just 10,575. Plans fell hardest in entertainment/leisure (-50.0% y/y), financial (-100.0% y/y), health care, industrial goods (33.3% y/y), retail (1,900% y/y) and services.
The Challenger figures are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | Dec | Nov | Oct | Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 32,004 | 48,711 | 37,986 | -29.0% | 529,973 | 1,288,030 | 1,223,993 |
| Announced Hiring Plans | 10,575 | 26,012 | 124,766 | -70.3% | 402,638 | 272,573 | 118,600 |
