Recent Updates
- US: Wholesale Trade (Feb), Producer Prices (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Commodity Detail (Mar)
- US: Producer Price Indexes by Industry Detail (Mar)
- Canada: Investment in Building Construction (Feb), Labor Force Survey (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 3, 2015
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements during August declined sharply to 41,186 (+2.9% y/y) and more-than-reversed July's unrevised surge to 105,496. Layoffs pulled back in the aerospace/defense, chemical, computer, construction, electronics, energy, financial, government, media and transportation industries. Layoffs increased in the automotive, consumer products, education, entertainment/leisure, food, health care, industrial goods, insurance, pharmaceutical, retail, services and telecommunications industries.
During the last ten years there has been a 68% correlation between the level of job cut announcements and the m/m change in payroll employment.
Challenger also samples firms' hiring plans. Hiring edged higher last month to 11,778 (22.0% y/y) versus 11,637 in July. Increased job creation occurred in the aerospace/defense, automotive, education, electronics, financial, industrial goods, insurance, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and transportation industries. Reduced hiring plans were realized in the apparel, chemical, computer, construction, consumer products, food, health care, retail and services industries.
The Challenger figures are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas |
Aug | Jul | Jun | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Announced Job Cuts |
41,186 | 105,696 | 44,842 | 2.9 | 483,171 | 509,051 | 523,362 |
Announced Hiring Plans |
11,778 | 11,637 | 11,176 | 22.0 | 821,506 | 764,206 | 630,447 |