Layoffs Surpass Last Year's Total
The number of layoffs nationwide in November remained steady compared to October, but so far there have been more job cuts this year compared to all of 2010, according to Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
There were 42,474 planned layoffs in November, down less than 1 percent from October's layoff figure. The number is down 13 percent compared to November 2010.
A 28-month high for layoffs in September, when there were 115,730 cuts, has made the year-to-date layoffs in 2011 surpass last year's full-year total, however. So far there have been 564,297 layoffs through 11 months of the year, which compares to 529,973 layoffs during all of 2010.
Government sector layoffs made up the largest sector for cuts, accounting for 44 percent of the losses in November, or 18,508 cuts. November was the eighth month in the past 11 that government has been the top industry sector for job cuts.
Financial services and retail were second and third respectively.
Labor experts warned that the worst could be yet to come, especially for federal workers.
"Even if Congress finds a way to delay the automatic military spending cuts triggered by the failure of the deficit reduction super committee, there is still immense pressure to cut costs. The drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq are likely to result in further personnel reductions," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
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