Planned layoffs decreased in August
U.S.-based employers announced plans to trim 51,114 workers from their payrolls in August, a 23 percent decline from July, when the number of job cuts hit a 16-month high of 66,414, according to a report released today by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. The August decline follows three consecutive increases in the monthly job-cut total, but the figure was 47 percent higher than a year ago. Employers have now announced 363,334 planned layoffs so far this year, 2.9 percent fewer than the 2010 year-to-date figure.