US DATA: Challenger reports 41,785 planned layoffs in Dec, down slightly
from 42,474 in Nov, but up from the recent low of 32,004 a year ago. The
financial sector led with 7,433 announced cuts. For 2011 as a whole,
there were 606,082 job cuts announced, up from the 13-year low 529,973
total in 2010. The government and financial sectors combined accounted
for 41% of the cuts in 2011, much of them in October. These two sectors
are likely to post large numbers of layoffs in 2012 as well, Challenger
said. Hiring plans were 14,074 in Dec, down sharply from 63,527 in Nov
when UPS reported 55,000 new hires. Hiring was up from the 10,575
reported in December, and 2011 hires were up from 2010. See MNI wire.