Layoffs Down, Financial and Public Sectors Still At Risk

A new report released by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas (an outplacement consulting organization that specializes in these monthly reports) claims that layoffs "plummeted sequentially in October," reports Business Insider.

" . . . the number of planned job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers plunged in October to 42,759, the lowest monthly total since June," the report states.

"Meanwhile, planned hiring announcements approached 160,000, as several employers revealed their seasonal employment strategies," it added.

However, the government and financial sectors continue to be the two areas most at risk of massive layoffs.

This does not come as a great surprise.

As reported earlier on The Blaze via Bloomberg Businessweek, "Thomas DiNapoli, New York state’s comptroller, has just predicted that 10,000 financial industry jobs will be cut in NYC by the end of the year."

When The Blaze report came out, the projected number of layoffs, as tallied by Business Insider, included:

• 3,500 from UBS
• 40,000 from Bank of America
• 230 in New York City and 1,000 globally from Goldman Sachs
• Up to 500 for Deutsche Bank
• About 3,000 from Barklays.

Though these anticipated cuts are unfortunate, as cuts in any industry are unfortunate, the Challenger, Gray, and Christmas report had some slightly heartening news:

The latest report on planned job cuts shows that downsizing activity in October declined 63 percent from September, when employers announced 115,730 job cuts, the highest total since 132,590 in April 2009.

And though those numbers are arguably terrible ("16 percent more than the 449,258 job cuts announced between January and October 2010"), the total is still below what one would expect from a recession.

Consider this: "By this point in 2009, planned layoffs totaled 1,192,587."

Furthermore, the number of layoffs in both the financial and "government sectors" dropped precipitously in October.

• Government sectors: "After announcing 54,182 cuts to personnel levels in September, the government announced just 2,785 job cuts in October; a 95- percent drop to the sector’s lowest monthly job-cut total since January 2009 (2,298)."
• Financial sector: Job cuts "plunged 98 percent from 31,167 in September to 497 last month."

However, the report makes sure to note that the "government and financial sectors still remain the top job-cutting industries for the year, with 162,373 and 54,510 job cuts, respectively."

It reiterates by stating that "the two sectors remain the most at-risk when it comes to the potential for more mass layoffs."

Read the full report here.

(h/t Business Insider)