42,090 February cuts; fewest since 2006
CHICAGO, March 3, 2010 – Monthly job cuts fell in February to the lowest level since 2006, as companies announced plans to reduce payrolls by only 42,090, according to the latest job-cut report released Wednesday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The February total was down 41 percent from January’s 71,482 announced job cuts. It was 77 percent lower than the 186,350 job cuts announced in February 2009, when the economy was still in the midst of the housing and financial markets collapse.
Downsizing activity peaked in January 2009, with employers announcing 241,749 job cuts, the highest monthly total in seven years. Since then, monthly job cuts have steadily declined, with only a couple of exceptions. Last month’s total marks a new low-point for this downward trend. It is, in fact, the lowest monthly total since June 2006, when employers announced just 37,178 job cuts.
Through the first two months of 2010, employers announced 113,572 planned layoffs. That is 73 percent below the pace established in the first two months of 2009, when 428,099 job cuts were announced.
“Most economists agree that a recovery is well underway; a position that appears to be supported by declining job-cut activity. It may be a couple of more months before hiring begins to surge, but it is clear that employers have shifted away from downsizing and are poised to start adding workers,” said John A. Challenger , chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Perhaps most telling of the economy’s turnaround are the declines experienced by some of last year’s largest job cutters. In the first two months of 2009, retailers announced 72,727 planned job cuts. So far this year, retail job cuts are down 75 percent to 18,271.
