Job losses in January totaled 53,486 in January, the highest total since last September and nearly 39% higher than job cuts of 38,519 in January 2011. Compared with December 2011 job cuts of 41,785, the January losses are 28% higher.
This is the latest data from job out-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, and includes the loss of 7,611 jobs in the financial sector. The retail sector announced cuts of 12,426 jobs in the month, not including part-time and seasonal employees.
Government job losses totaled just 3,021, but the monthly average for 2011 was 15,255 job cuts. In the past 24 months, 325,319 jobs have been lost in the public sector. The bad news is that Challenger doesn’t think public sector losses are behind us yet:
[I]t is far too early to say whether we will continue to see low job-cut figures in government. It is highly unlikely, considering that many cities and states continue to struggle with budget deficits. And, then there is the federal level of government, which remains under intense pressure to cut costs. As a result, we expect government layoffs to be heavy again this year.
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