• Job cuts -30.2% vs -24.4% prior y/y

Not a big data point but they all add up and it’s showing the lowest first quarter cuts for 20 years.

“The first quarter typically experiences some of the heaviest job cutting of the year. Since we began tracking planned layoffs in 1989, the first quarter is only slightly lower than the fourth quarter when it comes to the pace of downsizing, with an average job-cut total of just over 205,000. Employers are well below that pace this year, suggesting that layoffs continue to decline in a recovery that is approaching its five-year anniversary,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

US Challenger job layoffs 03 04 2014