Categories: Employee Benefits & Human Resources

Challenger report: Employers cut 53 percent more jobs in May

Announced job cuts in the United States expanded to their highest level in eight months in May, according to a report from the Chicago–based global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Employers said in May that they planned to eliminate a total of 61,887 positions. That’s up 53 percent from April, when employers announced 40,559 layoffs. It’s the highest monthly job-cut total since September 2011, when 115,730 job cuts were announced, according to Challenger, Gray.

May’s job-cut results were 67 percent higher than those from the same month last year. In May 2011, employers announced 37,135 cuts.

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New York employers anticipated slashing 1,942 jobs during May 2012, giving the state the sixth-highest job-cut total in the nation, Challenger, Gray said. California, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina were home to more cuts, with California far outpacing all other states with 31,679 announced layoffs in May.

Year-to-date, New York has posted the third-highest planned job-cut total at 18,006 positions. It slots in below California at 43,331 and Texas at 31,784.

Nationally, employers have announced 245,540 job cuts through the first five months of the year, up 20 percent from the same period in 2011. Last year, employers made public 204,374 cuts through May.

May 2012 Layoffs by State (Top 10)

California: 31,679

Georgia: 2,807

Maryland: 2,685

Texas: 2,460

North Carolina: 2,156

New York: 1,942

Washington state: 1,816

Ohio: 1,540

Illinois: 1,486

Tennessee: 1,479

Year-to-Date Layoffs by State (Top 5)