Global| Jan 08 2015Challenger Job Cut Announcements Slip
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements fell to 32,640 (+6.6% y/y) during December from 35,940 in November. It was the lowest layoff level in three months. For all of 2014, layoffs [...]
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that job cut announcements fell to 32,640 (+6.6% y/y) during December from 35,940 in November. It was the lowest layoff level in three months. For all of 2014, layoffs totaled 483,171, the fewest since 1997. Layoffs fell m/m in the consumer products, health care, aerospace/defense, chemical, computer, education, entertainment/leisure, financial, government, industrial goods, real estate, retail and transportation industries. Layoffs increased in the automotive, construction, electronics, energy, entertainment/leisure, food, legal, media, pharmaceutical, services, telecommunication and utility 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. For all of 2014 they totaled 821,506, the strongest level on record which dates to 2005. Hiring declined in December, however, to 7,332 (-35.5% y/y) due to less hiring in the chemical, construction, financial, food, health care, industrial goods, insurance, retail and telecommunications industries, many of which posted greater increases in November. Hiring increased in the aerospace/defense, automotive, commodities, computer, electronics, media, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, transportation and utility industries.
The Challenger figures are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
|
Challenger, Gray & Christmas |
Dec | Nov | Oct | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Announced Job Cuts |
32,640 | 35,940 | 51,183 | 6.6 | 483,171 | 509,051 | 523,362 |
|
Announced Hiring Plans |
7,332 | 11,291 | 147,935 | -35.5 | 821,506 | 764,206 | 630,447 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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