Job cuts announced by US-based employers rose 17 percent from the February total of 36,957 to 43,310 in March, according to the latest report on monthly job cuts released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
March announcements are 2 percent lower than the same month last year, when employers announced plans to eliminate 44,207 jobs from their ranks. Last month’s total is the third consecutive month of lower job cuts than the corresponding month a year earlier.
So far this year, employers have announced 126,201 job cuts. Last quarter’s total was 38 percent higher than the 91,303 cuts announced in the fourth quarter of 2016, and 30 percent lower than the same period last year when 180,920 cuts were announced.
