Job cut announcements surged to their highest level in nearly two years, as falling oil prices prompted cost-cutting efforts in energy and related industries. In all, U.S.-based employers announced plans to shed 53,041 jobs from their payrolls to start 2015; with 40 percent of those directly related to oil prices.
While the number of overall job cuts declined in 2014 to the lowest level since 1997, planned workforce reductions in the technology sector trended in the opposite direction, rising to the largest year-end total since 2009.
Job cuts declined for a second consecutive month in December, as U.S.-based employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 32,640. It was the third lowest monthly total of 2014; a year that saw the fewest planned job cuts since 1997, according to the report Thursday from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Downsizing activity by U.S.-based employers declined by 30 percent in November, with 35,940 planned job cuts announced during the penultimate month of 2014, according to the report Thursday from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The November slowdown comes just one month after job cuts surged 70 percent to 51,183 in October. The November total was 21 percent lower than the 45,314 job cuts announced the same month a year ago.
Just one month after falling to a 14-year low, monthly job cuts surged nearly 70 percent in October to the second highest total this year, according to the report Thursday from global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Monthly job cuts fell to their lowest level in 14 years in September, as U.S.-based employers announced workforce reductions totaling 30,477 during the month. As the fourth quarter begins, 2014 is on pace to be the lowest job-cut year since 1997.
Planned job cuts announced by US-based employers totaled 40,010 in August, a 15 percent decline from the 46,887 planned layoffs reported in July, according to the report released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The unexpectedly large layoffs announced by Microsoft helped push July job cuts to the second highest level of the year. In all, U.S.-based employers reported plans to reduce payrolls by 46,887 during the month, according to the report released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
After climbing to a 15-month high in May, planned job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers in June plunged 41 percent to 31,434, the lowest one-month total so far this year. Through the first half of 2014, the pace of job cutting is down 5.0 percent from a year ago, according to the report released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.