Your Economy (No Politics)

[Bullwinkle]

U.S. planned layoffs top 100,000
By TAVIA GRANT
Thursday, February 02, 2006


Planned job cuts in the U.S. topped 100,000 for the second straight month, employment Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. said Thursday.

Employers announced 103,466 job cuts in January, up 12 per cent from a year earlier, though down 4 per cent from December, the Chicago-based company.

The auto industry posted the largest number of planned job cuts in January, with 36,299 announced cuts, most of which from Ford Motor Co. That's almost three times higher than the second-ranked government and non-profit sector.

The U.S. economy is continuing to see fallout from Hurricane Katrina, with employers in the government and non-profit sector planning to cut 13,527 jobs. The retail sector, meantime, eliminated 13,430 jobs in a post-holiday elimination of seasonal workers and after several major store closings by OfficeMax and Toys “R” Us.

“While some forecast the (U.S.) economy to be strong this year, some areas hit with heavy downsizing could struggle,” said John Challenger, the company's chief executive.

While massive job cuts, such as the Ford announcement, receive the major headlines, smaller cuts can have just as devastating an impact on the communities where they occur, he noted.

More clues on the health of the U.S. labour market will come Friday, with the release of non-farm payrolls for January. Economists are expected 240,000 new jobs were created in the month.

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/RTGAM/20060202/wchallenger0202