Job Cuts Remain Low Heading into Final Quarter of 2010

Job Cuts Remain Low Heading into Final Quarter of 2010

September announced cuts up slightly to 37,151; 113,595 quarterly layoffs fewest since 2000

CHICAGO, October 6, 2010 - The pace of downsizing remained virtually unchanged in September as employers announced plans to cut 37,151 jobs during the month; a seven percent increase from the 34,768 job cuts reported in August.

The September figure is the second lowest of the year and comes on the heels of the lowest monthly job-cut total since June 2000 (17,241), according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.  Last month's total was 44 percent lower than the 66,404 job cuts announced in September 2009.

For the quarter ending September 30, planned layoffs totaled 113,595, 53 percent fewer than the 240,333 job cuts announced the same period a year ago.  The July-September total was 2.5 percent lower than the 116,494 cuts announced in the previous quarter, replacing it as the lowest quarterly job-cut total since the second quarter of 2000 (81,568).

Overall, employers have announced 411,272 job cuts so far this year.  That is 64 percent fewer than the 1,136,908 cuts announced by this point in 2009.  The twelve-month moving average has now dropped to 46,866, the lowest since November 2000, when it stood at 43,744.

12-Month Moving Average

The September total would have been even lower were it not for the ongoing struggles in the government and non-profit sector, which announced another 11,091 job cuts during the month.  That is the largest job-cut total for the sector since May (16,697), and brings the year-to-date total to 123,469.  The next largest job cut sector is pharmaceutical, which has announced 43,334 cuts this year, including 6,069 in September.

"The low job-cut numbers we are seeing in almost every sector do not necessarily translate into increased hiring.  There is hiring going on in the economy, but it is not enough make a discernable dent in the number of unemployed," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"Government employers - at the national, state and local levels - are typically big contributors to job creation, not only through their own hiring, but also by purchasing goods and services from the private sector.  Unfortunately, this massive part of the economic engine simply is not firing on all pistons.  Meanwhile, employers in the private sector have the cash to spend on new equipment and employees, but are waiting for demand to increase enough to warrant the investment," he said.

More business spending may occur in the coming months, according to one survey.  In its third-quarter CEO Economic Outlook Survey, the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers from the some of the nation's leading companies, found that 49 percent of its members expect their companies to increase capital expenditures in the next six months.  That marks a vast improvement from a year when only 21 percent of CEOs were expecting to increase capital spending.

However, demonstrating just how tenuous the recovery is, the same survey found that 66 percent of CEOs expect their company's sales to increase in the next six months, down from 79 percent the previous quarter, and only 31 percent foresee increased hiring.

"Employers appear poised to hire.  Some people have expressed concern that hiring may never take off due to the fact that companies have learned to be leaner and meaner and will simply operate with smaller workforces from now on.  However, increased sales will eventually compel companies to hire or risk being unable to meet rising demand.  We just are not there, yet," said Challenger.

 

# # #

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

 

TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES

 

 

Year To Date

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010

2009

 

 

Government/Non-Profit

123,469

155,602

 

 

Pharmaceutical

43,334

58,583

 

 

Retail

31,246

95,422

 

 

Transportation

22,609

64,768

 

 

Health Care/Products

20,912

34,955

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MONTH BY MONTH TOTALS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010

2009

 

 

January

71,482

241,749

 

 

February

42,090

186,350

 

 

March

67,611

150,411

 

 

April

38,326

132,590

 

 

May

38,810

111,182

 

 

June

39,358

74,393

 

 

July

41,676

97,373

 

 

August

34,768

76,456

 

 

September

37,151

66,404

 

 

October

 

55,679

 

 

November

 

50,349

 

 

December

 

45,094

 

 

TOTAL

411,272

1,288,030

 

 

Some reductions are identified by employers as workers who will take early retirement offers or other special considerations to leave the company.

 

 

 

 

LAYOFF LOCATION

 

 

Year to Date

 

 

California

 

65,557

 

 

New York

 

58,103

 

 

Dist. of Columbia

 

35,240

 

 

Illinois

 

30,968

 

 

New Jersey

 

25,313

 

Listings are identified by the location of the layoff or corporate headquarters as stated in announcement.

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

JOB CUTS BY INDUSTRY

 

 

SEPTEMBER

TOTAL

Government/Non-Profit

11,091

123,469

Pharmaceutical

6,069

43,334

Industrial Goods

3,554

20,516

Aerospace/Defense

3,046

13,584

Transportation

2,507

22,609

Financial

2,254

19,474

Health Care/Products

2,009

20,912

Entertainment/Leisure

1,058

11,328

Chemical

850

1,716

Food

779

9,051

Energy

600

4,783

Automotive

565

12,613

Telecommunications

473

18,217

Retail

441

31,246

Consumer Products

309

7,893

Services

305

11,483

Insurance

300

3,300

Media

269

4,325

Construction

258

3,592

Electronics

249

4,125

Computer

93

18,183

Real Estate

72

978

Apparel

 

961

Commodities

 

205

Utility

 

3,375

TOTAL

37,151

411,272

 

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE

September

 

 

East

9,469

New York

4,769

Maryland

1,832

Massachusetts

1,223

Pennsylvania

633

Connecticut

626

New Hampshire

300

Maine

54

New Jersey

32

 

Midwest

10,668

Illinois

5,918

Indiana

1,134

Kansas

1,050

Missouri

732

Ohio

648

Wisconsin

445

Minnesota

285

Michigan

217

Iowa

150

Nebraska

89

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

 

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE

SEPTEMBER

 

 

West /Southwest

13,198

Texas

5,995

California

3,724

Washington

1,493

Nevada

443

New Mexico

411

South Dakota

400

Colorado

325

Oregon

322

Utah

85

 

South

3,816

Florida

876

Louisiana

664

N. Carolina

617

Tennessee

509

Mississippi

353

Virginia

347

Alabama

245

Georgia

93

Kentucky

88

Arkansas

24

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

JOB CUT REASONS

 

 

SEPTEMBER

Cost-Cutting

11,547

Restructuring

10,139

Merger/Acquisition

6,279

Closing

4,066

Voluntary Severance

1,440

Economic Conditions

1,367

Order Cancellation/Reduction

1,065

Demand Downturn

448

Outsourcing

237

Government Regulation

184

Bankruptcy

171

Relocation

119

Reorganization/Consolidation

76

Firing

13

TOTAL

37,151

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

 

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

QUARTER-BY-QUARTER

 

 

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

TOTAL

1989

9,850

10,100

24,085

67,250

111,285

1990

107,052

87,686

49,104

72,205

316,047

1991

110,056

76,622

147,507

221,107

555,292

1992*

110,815

85,486

151,849

151,850

500,000

1993

170,615

84,263

194,486

165,822

615,186

1994

192,572

107,421

117,706

98,370

516,069

1995

97,716

114,583

89,718

137,865

439,882

1996

168,695

101,818

91,784

114,850

477,147

1997

134,257

51,309

95,930

152,854

434,350

1998

139,140

131,303

161,013

246,339

677,795

1999

210,521

173,027

173,181

118,403

675,132

2000

141,853

81,568

168,875

221,664

613,960

2001

406,806

370,556

594,326

585,188

1,956,876

2002

478,905

292,393

269,090

426,435

1,466,823

2003

355,795

274,737

241,548

364,346

1,236,426

2004

262,840

209,895

251,585

315,415

1,039,735

2005

287,134

251,140

245,378

288,402

1,072,054

2006

255,878

180,580

202,771

200,593

839,822

2007

195,986

197,513

194,095

180,670

768,264

2008

200,656

275,292

287,142

460,903

1,223,993

2009

578,510

318,165

240,233

 151,122

1,288,030

2010

181,183

116,494 

113,595 

 

411,272

AVG

218,038

165,498

190,067

229,527

 

 

*Estimate based on half-year total. Challenger began tracking job-cut data in 1993.  Before that, it was tabulated by an independent newsletter no longer published.

 

 

Copyright 2010 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

 

CHALLENGER, GRAY & CHRISTMAS, INC.

JOB-CUT ANNOUNCEMENT REPORT

 

ANNOUNCED HIRING PLANS

SEPTEMBER

 

Industry

Jobs

Retail

114,000

Computer

1,901

Industrial Goods

1,689

Services

1,075

Automotive

882

Transportation

600

Health Care/Products

526

Telecommunications

483

Consumer Products

440

Insurance

260

Aerospace/Defense

200

Energy

200

Government/Non-Profit

200

Electronics

130

Financial

125

Media

110

Food

105

Pharmaceuticals

100

Construction

50

TOTAL

123,076