US employers plan to cut payrolls by 52,961 in May, up from April: Challenger
Job
cuts climbed to the highest level in more than a year, as U.S.-based
employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 52,961 in May, according
to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
May job cuts were up 31 percent from 40,298 announced layoffs in April. It was the second consecutive increase in monthly job cuts and the largest one-month total since February 2013, when 55,356 job cuts were recorded.
Last month's total was 46 percent higher than the 36,398 job cuts announced in May 2013.
To date, employers have announced a total of 214,600 planned job cuts in 2014, which is 2.3 percent fewer than the 219,560 job cuts tracked in the first five months of 2013.
The heaviest downsizing in May occurred in the technology sector, where computer firms announced plans to cut payrolls by 18,799. Hewlett-Packard, which has announced several large-scale workforce reductions in recent years, revealed plans to cut as many 16,000 workers in its ongoing efforts to "reengineer the workforce to be more competitive."
Last month's total was 46 percent higher than the 36,398 job cuts announced in May 2013.
To date, employers have announced a total of 214,600 planned job cuts in 2014, which is 2.3 percent fewer than the 219,560 job cuts tracked in the first five months of 2013.
The heaviest downsizing in May occurred in the technology sector, where computer firms announced plans to cut payrolls by 18,799. Hewlett-Packard, which has announced several large-scale workforce reductions in recent years, revealed plans to cut as many 16,000 workers in its ongoing efforts to "reengineer the workforce to be more competitive."
Challenger Job Cuts Soar 45%; Most Layoffs Since Feb 2013
Did it
snow again in May? It seems the hopes for a pent-up demand-based bounce
post the weather doldrums has once again been dashed by the hard data.
Challenger, Gray, & Christmas just announced that job cuts soared by
45.5% year-over-year in May, the biggest annual rise in 9 months.
However, what is perhaps even more worrisome is the actual number of layoffs, around 53,000, was the highest since February 2013. The layoffs in the South are a disaster, aside from the BP oil spill in Sept 2011, this is the most job cuts since Jan 2010. What no seasonal adjustments?
Weekly Jobless Claims Rise to 312,000
Initial jobless claims rose to 312,000.
Expectations were for claims to rise to 310,000 from last week’s 300,000.