Reply #20: U.S. Dec layoffs rise by 8.6 percent - survey

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http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-05T130836Z_01_N05285555_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-LAYOFFS-CHALLENGER-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Planned U.S. layoffs rose by 8.6 percent in December, pushing the 2005 annual total of job cuts 3.1 percent higher than in 2004, according to a report released on Thursday.

The increases were due in large part to big jumps in job cuts in the government, non-profit and automotive sectors, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm, said.

Total announced layoffs in the month were 107,822 jobs, compared with 99,279 planned cuts in November, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

"Unfortunately for workers in these sectors, there does not appear to be any relief in the near term," John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, said in a statement.

"Budget deficits exist at all levels of government. At the federal level, military base closures will lead to continued job cutting in 2006," Challenger said.

In all of 2005, U.S. employers announced 1,072,054 job cuts, compared with 1,039,735 in all of 2004, marking the first time since 2001 that annual job cuts increased, Challenger said.

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