Planned job cuts rise 8 percent in June compared to May, Challenger report says

U.S. employers announced workforce reductions totaling 39,372 jobs in June, up 8.2 percent from 36,398 job cuts in May and almost 5 percent higher than June 2012’s level of 37,551 planned payroll cuts.

That’s according to the latest report on monthly job cuts released today by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

While job cuts rose last month, the pace of downsizing through the first half of the year is about nine percent lower than a year ago, with even better results in the latest quarter, according to Challenger, Gray.

For the second quarter ending June 30, announced layoffs totaled 113,891, down 21.5 percent from the first quarter and 18.6 percent lower than the second quarter in 2012, the firm reported.

In June, job cuts jumped in the computer sector, where employers announced 10,133 reductions, bringing the year-to-date total for the sector to a fourth-ranked 19,930. The education sector also saw its heaviest job cutting of the year in June, with 5,629 planned layoffs, according to Challenger, Gray.

“The economy is picking up speed with housing and manufacturing staging comebacks. Threats to job security still exist, however, in the form of federal spending cutbacks stemming from sequestration as well as potential fallout from implementation of health  care reform,” John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a news release. “So far, most of the job cuts related to health care reform have come from health care providers adjusting to lower Medicare reimbursements and state Medicaid cutbacks.”

The same trend is happening locally. St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica announced June 25 that it has laid off 10 employees and will eliminate about 40 vacant positions as the hospital continues to adjust to lower state Medicaid reimbursements.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com