Nationwide, layoff announcements fell from 115,730 in September to 42,759 last month — the lowest monthly total since June.
A dramatic decline in planned layoffs in the financial and government sectors brought down the overall figure. But the government and financial sectors remained the top job-cutting industries, with a combined 216,883 planned layoffs so far this year.
The two sectors are expected to remain the most vulnerable to job cuts going forward, said Challenger CEO John Challenger.
The Challenger report also showed planned hiring announcements reached nearly 160,000 last month as several employers revealed their hiring plans for the holiday shopping season.
But Challenger cautioned against reading the report as a turnaround in employment.
He noted the European debt crisis is still wreaking havoc on Wall Street, and commercial banks and mortgage lenders are still reeling from the housing collapse and foreclosure crisis.
“We seem to be in a pattern of two or more consecutive months with low job-cut totals, followed by a sudden spike one month, typically resulting from a small number of large layoffs,” he said, adding the pattern will probably continue through early next year.
About the Author