6 July 2001, 09:18 US June layoffs at 124,852, up 56% vs May, Challenger says
New York, July 5 (BridgeNews)- U.S. layoffs totaled 124,852 in June, up 56%
from May, according to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas monthly report of job
cuts. Job cuts have now exceeded 100,000 six out of the last seven months, with
the six-month total for this year at 770,362 compared with 223,421 during the
same period last year, the report said.
The six-month total for this year is already 15% higher than the total of
677,795 job cut announcements in 1998, which was the biggest job cut year of
the last decade, the report said.
On a year-over-year basis, layoff announcements were up 624% in June
compared with 17,241 job cut announcements during the same month last year.
On a quarterly basis, job cut announcements were slightly lower in the
second quarter compared with the first quarter.
Job cut announcements totaled 370,556 in the second quarter, down 9% from a
total of 406,806 in the first quarter.
Out of all the major industries, telecommunications led the group with
27,446 job cut announcements, bringing its six-month total to 130,442. This
total is 49% higher than the second ranked auto industry's 87,613 job cut
announcements this year.
The other industries with a high number of job cut announcements are
computer with 74,723, industrial goods with 59,496 and electronics with 59,181,
the report said.
Still, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that
the "good news" is that workers who have been displaced by corporate downsizing
are still in demand. "This is why the unemployment rate has not increased at
nearly the same rate as job cuts," he said.
He says that unemployed Silicon Valley high-technology workers are
"exceptions."
"Most tech workers can find ample opportunities outside of the Bay Area,
probably in an area where the cost of living is much lower too," he said.
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