Global| Feb 02 2011U.S. Challenger Layoffs Are Another Sign Of Firming Job Market
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that the level of layoffs during January picked up slightly to 38,519. The level still was near the lowest since June 2000. Despite the decline in layoffs, the [...]
The outplacement firm of Challenger, Grey & Christmas reported that the
level of layoffs during January picked up slightly to 38,519. The level still
was near the lowest since June 2000. Despite the decline in layoffs, the
unemployment rate from the Census Department remains high as the number of
long-term unemployed has surged.
Layoffs picked up in the aerospace, chemical, construction, consumer goods, energy, financial, government, media, real estate, retail insurance, pharmaceutical, services industries. Layoffs fell 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 rebounded to 29,492.
The Challenger figures are available in Haver's SURVEYS database.
| Challenger, Gray & Christmas | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announced Job Cuts | 38,519 | 32,004 | 48,711 | -46.1% | 529,973 | 1,288,030 | 1,223,993 |
| Announced Hiring Plans | 29,492 | 10,575 | 26,012 | -6.0% | 402,638 | 272,573 | 118,600 |
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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