New York, September 5, 2006--Planned U.S. layoffs up 76 percent in August from the previous month, signaling an early start to year-end cuts as companies start to implement 2007 payroll plans, an independent report showed on Tuesday.
Announced layoffs in August totaled 65,278 jobs, compared with a six-year low of 37,178 in July, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm. It was the only second time this year that monthly job cuts have increased.
In the year to date, employers have announced 538,914 job cuts, 24.3 percent fewer than the 711,816 cuts in the first eight months of 2005, the firm said.
The computer industry was the hardest-hit sector in August, with 17,371 job losses.
