Posted on 10/01/2003 7:30:08 AM PDT by Starwind
U.S. layoff plans ease in September-report
Wednesday October 1, 10:09 am ET
NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. employers announced fewer job cuts in September, a potential sign of stability in an otherwise grim labor market, a report showed on Wednesday.
Planned layoffs at U.S. firms slipped to 76,506 in September from 79,925 in August, job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. Companies have announced 872,080 job cuts so far this year, still high but 16 percent lower than the total for the first nine months of 2002.
"Are job-cut plans being downsized? It looks that way," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger Gray. "It is probably too early to break out the champagne, however."
The report comes as financial markets await the government's employment report for September, due on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect payrolls to have contracted by 30,000 last month, adding to the nearly half a million jobs lost so far this year.
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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Job cuts announced by U.S. corporations in the month of September came in sharply lower than August, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Wednesday.
Challenger reported that 76,506 cuts were announced last month, some 3,419 fewer than the announced layoffs in August, marking the lowest monthly figure since May, the Chicago-based firm said.
"Frankly, the September decline was somewhat surprising, considering that the last four months of the year historically have been the heaviest, as employers finalize budgets and business plans for the coming year," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of the firm, in a press release.
However, he noted a relatively low job cuts figure last September and employers went on to announced 426,000 job cuts in the last three months of the year.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. is an outplacement firm which tracks layoff announcements and releases its Challenger Employment report monthly.
-By Angela Pruitt, Dow Jones Newswires, 201-938-2269, angela.pruitt@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-01-03 1000ET- - 10 00 AM EDT 10-01-03
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