On planned layoffs, the Challenger report showed this was the lowest monthly total since 112,884 cuts were announced last October, but still up 47 percent from the 90,015 job cuts announced in the same month of 2008.
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I think unemployment numbers in general need to be seasonally adjusted, i.e. one have to compare April with April and not April with preceeding March. From this perspective, the numbers are still very bad, not good.