Announced US Job Cuts Decline

Job cuts reported by US employers were down in August, indicating an improvement in the labor market.

Planned firings declined 55% to 34,768 last month, from 76,456 in August last year, according to figures released on Wednesday by Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Announced job cuts in August were at the lowest level since June 2000. Job cuts were down 17% from the July figures. The report released today also showed that employers announced plans to hire 14,075 workers in August, up from July’s figure of 8,151.

While the news of fewer job cuts is good in the current economic scenario, the level of job gains has to rise in order to boost consumer spending. The current state of the labor market may not be good enough to support a sustainable economic recovery.

“The recovery may indeed be stalling, but any slowdown is unlikely to lead to a sudden resurgence in mass layoffs,” John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, a slowing recovery could be met with further delays in much-needed hiring.”

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.