Job cuts reached eight-month high in Nov.: Challenger

Planned job cuts in the U.S rose sharply in November to reach an eight-month high, a nation-wide survey of employers revealed.

Job cuts announced by the employers in the U.S. stood at 48,711 in November, up 28 percent from October, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc said in a report on Wednesday.

The November increase in job cuts is not indicative of a broader trend. Historically, job cuts tend to increase in the final months of the year. This is the period when many companies make budget and payroll decisions for the coming year,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

However, the jobs cuts this year are still below the levels in the previous year, the report said. Job cuts in November were down by 3.3 percent compared with the same month last year.

From Jan-Nov, employers had cut a total of 497,969 jobs, down 60 percent against the same period in 2009. In November, the job cuts surge was mainly from the government and non-profit sector, which announced 10,761 layoffs during the month.

Year-to-date, the government and non-profit sector had cut 138,979 jobs, 177 percent more than the second-ranked pharmaceutical industry.

“Government and non-profit job cuts are down 16 percent from a year ago, but that is probably little consolation to employees in the sector, which is still struggling despite signs of recovery in other areas of the economy. Unfortunately, 2011 may not offer much respite for workers in the sector as many newly elected members of Congress are pushing for significant federal spending cuts ,” said Challenger.

However, job cuts in November were offset a little by hiring announcements totaling 26,012. Most of the hiring activity was from retailers who announced plans of adding 15,900 seasonal workers last month.

Region-wise, Ohio saw the highest job cuts of 10,353 in November followed by New York and California with 8,045 and 5,550 job cuts respectively.