U.S.

Singin' The Layoff Blues

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 6, 2001 / 9:12 AM EST / CBS MarketWatch

In another sign that the U.S. economy is slowing quickly, U.S. companies announced 142,208 job cuts in January, according to one survey released Tuesday.

The layoffs announcements are the most in eight years, rising 6.4 percent over the previous record of 133,713 in December, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago outplacement firm.

The cuts in January and December marked the first time that job cuts exceeded 100,000 in back-to-back months since Challenger began tracking layoffs in 1993.

Telecoms, e-commerce and computer companies announced cuts totaling 44,851, about 32 percent of the total. The auto sector saw announcements reach 34,959.

Michigan, heart of the auto industry, led the states, with 31,897 cuts announced, the survey shows.

Actual layoffs do not necessarily come in the same month as the announcements, so direct comparison with other labor market data is difficult.

On Friday, the Labor Department said private firms added 214,000 net new jobs in January, bringing the total to 111.7 million. In manufacturing, 75,000 jobs were lost, with 38,000 jobs lost in the auto sector.

Job cuts in the e-commerce sector aren't letting up. Late Monday, Internet content and services provider InfoSpace said it was cutting 250 jobs, or 20 percent of its workforce. Shares were down 31 cents, or 7.4 percent, to $3.91 in opening trading.

Etoys also let its remaining employees go. The online retailer said it didn't think it could obtain additional funding to stay in business. See full story.

Since the beginning of the year, DaimlerChrysler has announced 26,000 layoffs, Lucent Technology has announced 16,000, Sara Lee has cut 7,000, J.C. Penney has axed 5,300, Xerox and Nortel have cut 4,000, and Textron has cut 3,600.