The slow pace of downsizing that marked the second half of 2010 appears to be continuing into 2011, as employers announced plans to cut 38,519 jobs in January, according to outplacement expert Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
While that is an increase from the previous month, it marks the lowest January total on record, according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger Gray said.
January job cuts were up 20 percent from December, when planned layoffs totaled 32,004; the lowest monthly figure since June 2000 (17,241). Compared to a year ago, however, last month’s job cuts were down sharply, falling 46 percent from the 71,482 job cuts recorded in January 2010.Â
“It is not unusual to see job cuts increase in January,” CEO John Challenger said. ” In fact, 2011 marks the fifth consecutive year and the tenth out of the last twelve in which January job cuts surpassed the December total. What made this January figure so unusual is that it was so low. ‘’
Last month’s job cuts were led by employers in the government and non-profit sector, which announced 6,450 planned reductions in staff. That was nearly double the 3,276 job cuts announced in December, but slightly lower than the 6,586 planned layoffs announced by these organizations a year ago.Â
Retailers had the second largest number of job-cut announcements in January, as these employers announced plans to eliminate 5,755 jobs.Â
