U.S. planned cuts rise 17% (100,000 Jobs For February)

[mhr]

By TAVIA GRANT
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Globe and Mail Update

Planned U.S. job cuts rose above the 100,000 mark for the fourth month in five in February, with almost half of the layoffs stemming from corporate mergers, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said Wednesday.

For the month, U.S. employers announced plans to cut 108,387 jobs, a 17-per-cent increase from January's levels and 40 per cent more than in February, 2004.

For the month of February almost half — 43 per cent — of the job cuts stemmed from companies' plans to merge, especially in the telecommunications industry. On Feb. 2, for example, SBC Communications Inc. said it expects to eliminate about 13,000 jobs after its acquisition of AT&T Corp. closes, though the telephone company said many cuts could be through attrition.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050302.wchallenger0302/BNStory/Business

[AllegroRondo]

1. Reminds me of the 80's

give corporations huge tax cuts, and they start buying each other out and laying off workers.