Global| Jan 07 2009Challenger Layoffs Remained High
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements in December fell back slightly to 166,348 following the indication of 181,671 layoffs during November. Despite the drop, however, the number of layoffs was nearly four [...]
Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that job cut announcements in December fell back slightly to 166,348 following the indication of 181,671 layoffs during November. Despite the drop, however, the number of layoffs was nearly four times the level of December 2007.
According to the report from ADP, the service sector lost 473,000 jobs and the manufacturing industry lost 120,000 jobs.
Job cut announcements in the financial industry totaled 39,604, up more than six times from a year earlier, while layoffs in the entertainment & leisure industry totaled 6,739, up more than five times from December of '07. Layoffs in retail totaled 17,783, nearly double one year earlier, while in services there were 5,064 job cuts, up nearly ten times from one year ago. In the media industry 2,533 jobs were cut. In the auto industry 6,539 jobs were lost, electronics shed 11,520 positions and 17,968 jobs were shed from the chemical industry, up fifteen times from December of '07.
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 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 were roughly stable with the prior three months.
The Challenger figures are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | December | November | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 166,348 | 181,671 | 274.5% | 1,223,993 | 768,264 | 839,822 |
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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