(Reuters) – Planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell for a fifth consecutive month in June, hitting the lowest since March 2008 and providing another hopeful sign as the U.S. economy struggles to end its worst recession in decades.
Planned job cuts announced by U.S. employers totaled 74,393 in June, down 33 percent from 111,182 in May, according to a report released on Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.(…)
"We typically see a decline in job cuts in the second quarter. In fact, it is the slowest job-cut quarter, historically," the report said. "However, this recent drop-off may be indicative of an overall downward trend in layoff activity."
"We will probably see job-cut activity increase from current levels in the months ahead, but job cuts in the second half of the year are likely to be lower than the first-half and may even come in below the second quarter of 2008, when 748,045 cuts were announced."
It was the first time since last September that the monthly total was less than 100,000 and it was the lowest job-cut count since 53,579 job cuts were announced in March 2008.
It was also nine percent lower than the same month a year ago, making it the first year-over-year decline since February 2008, Challenger added.
Job cuts hit a seven-year high of 241,749 in January but have declined each month since then. The second-quarter total of 318,165 job cuts is 45 percent lower than the 578,510 cuts announced in the first quarter.
Despite the decline, the 896,675 layoffs announced during the first six months of 2009 is the largest January-June total since Challenger job-cut tracking began in 1989.
The government and non-profit sector led job cuts in June with 19,438, followed by the automotive sector’s 7,882 and 5,587 in transportation.
"The government and non-profit sector will continue to be a source of heavy job cutting for the remainder of the year," the report said.
"Even after an injection of federal stimulus money, many states will still be in the red."
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