from Challenger Gray and Christmas
U.S.-based employers announced plans to cut 40,023 jobs from their payrolls in April, down 34% from the 60,587 cuts announced in March. This is the lowest monthly total since last August, when 38,472 cuts were announced.
Despite the monthly drop, April cuts are up 11% from the same month last year, when 36,081 cuts were announced. So far this year, employers have announced 230,433 job cuts, 31% higher than the 176,280 announced in the first four months of last year.
Said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.:
The second quarter averages the fewest cuts of the year, according to our historical tracking. With the favorable jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in March, this could signify companies are slowing down plans to cut workers for the spring and summer months.
That said, high job cut numbers in the Manufacturing and Automotive sectors are troubling, as changes in these industries tend to have a trickle-down effect.
April job cuts were led by manufacturers in the Industrial Goods sector, which announced 5,159 cuts last month. So far this year, this sector has announced 39,304 cuts, the second-highest total after Retail. That is 750% higher than the 4,625 cuts announced in this sector through April 2018.
Consumer Products manufacturers follow with 4,705 announced cuts in April.
Adds Challenger:
Manufacturing is an important sector to watch in the coming months. While first-quarter GDP growth was strong, we saw consumer spending add only 0.82%.
Cuts in the Automotive sector were the third highest in April with 3,915, bringing the year-to-date total to 19,802, 207% higher than the 6,451 announced through April last year. Meanwhile, the 12,179 year-to-date cuts in the Energy sector are 323% higher than the 2,879 announced in the same period in 2018.
Retailers continue to lead all sectors in job cuts this year with 48,076. That is 25% lower than the 64,370 Retail cuts announced through April last year. According to Challenger tracking, Retailers have announced plans to shutter 4,397 stores so far this year.
The majority of cuts this year are due to “restructuring,” with 55,706 cuts announced due to this reason. Bankruptcy claimed another 40,560 this year, a 35% increase over the 30,060 cuts announced for this reason through April 2018. Another 35,859 were due to plant, unit, or store closures, down 43% from the 62,946 cuts for this reason at this point last year.
Concludes Challenger:
While the lower number of cuts last month is certainly a good sign, and we saw a huge hiring announcement in the Retail sector from McDonald’s last month, we are still seeing more than a 30% increase in cuts over last year. The sectors that are making cuts could indicate trouble ahead.
Table 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES | |||
Year To Date | |||
| 2019 | 2018 | |
Retail | 48,076 | 64,370 | |
Industrial Goods | 39,304 | 4,625 | |
Automotive | 19,802 | 6,451 | |
Health Care/Products | 14,374 | 17,450 | |
Energy | 12,179 | 2,879 | |
MONTH-BY-MONTH TOTALS | |||
| 2019 | 2018 | |
January | 52,988 | 44,653 | |
February | 76,835 | 35,369 | |
March | 60,587 | 60,357 | |
April | 40,023 | 36,081 | |
May | 31,517 | ||
June | 37,202 | ||
July | 27,122 | ||
August | 38,472 | ||
September | 55,285 | ||
October | 75,644 | ||
November | 53,073 | ||
December | 43,884 | ||
TOTAL | 230,433 | 538,659 | |
Some reductions are identified by employers as workers who will take early retirement offers or other special considerations to leave the company. | |||
LAYOFF LOCATION | |||
Year To Date | |||
California |
| 35,751 | |
Massachusetts |
| 30,900 | |
New York |
| 30,251 | |
Illinois |
| 15,895 | |
Texas |
| 12,696 | |
Listings are identified by the location of the layoff or corporate headquarters as stated in announcement. | |||
Table 2: JOB CUTS BY INDUSTRY
| 18-Apr | 19-Mar | 19-Apr | YTD 2018 | YTD 2019 |
Aerospace/Defense | 918 | 280 | 380 | 2,396 | 2,667 |
Apparel | 201 | 300 | 0 | 743 | |
Automotive | 1,905 | 8,838 | 3,915 | 6,451 | 19,802 |
Chemical | 81 | 40 | 249 | 368 | |
Construction | 184 | 562 | 366 | 1,362 | |
Consumer Products | 965 | 1,147 | 4,705 | 12,743 | 8,904 |
Education | 752 | 2,835 | 3,271 | 1,688 | 7,069 |
Electronics | 2,793 | 440 | 263 | 4,070 | 762 |
Energy | 674 | 8,149 | 1,631 | 2,879 | 12,179 |
Entertainment/Leisure | 1,962 | 1,529 | 1,390 | 3,486 | 7,058 |
Financial | 2,148 | 4,884 | 1,295 | 4,476 | 10,865 |
FinTech | 784 | 30 | 1,000 | ||
Food | 555 | 3,126 | 1,093 | 5,397 | 6,883 |
Government | 2,397 | 347 | 1,226 | 3,503 | |
Health Care/Products | 4,959 | 3,111 | 3,497 | 17,450 | 14,374 |
Industrial Goods | 898 | 2,197 | 5,159 | 4,625 | 39,304 |
Insurance | 456 | 231 | 2,090 | 1,193 | |
Legal | 0 | 0 | |||
Media | 1,539 | 3,365 | 316 | 5,233 | 6,112 |
Mining | 242 | 239 | 216 | 395 | 802 |
Non-Profit | 188 | 4 | 533 | 695 | 608 |
Pharmaceutical | 961 | 519 | 1,034 | 3,706 | 2,236 |
Real Estate | 434 | 80 | 302 | 592 | |
Retail | 7,844 | 4,860 | 2,015 | 64,370 | 48,076 |
Services | 4,101 | 1,836 | 3,224 | 14,665 | 8,032 |
Technology | 1,026 | 2,620 | 1,202 | 3,004 | 5,933 |
Telecommunications | 333 | 2,295 | 1,461 | 6,254 | 4,451 |
Transportation | 1,113 | 2,898 | 1,141 | 7,039 | 11,232 |
Utility | 25 | 452 | 888 | 770 | |
Warehousing | 180 | 426 | 692 | 137 | 3,553 |
TOTAL | 36,081 | 60,587 | 40,023 | 176,280 | 230,433 |
Table 3: JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE
EAST | April | YTD |
Massachusetts | 740 | 30,900 |
New York | 2,298 | 30,251 |
Pennsylvania | 1,136 | 6,208 |
New Jersey | 672 | 4,459 |
Maryland | 718 | 2,082 |
Maine | 953 | 1,635 |
Connecticut | 288 | 808 |
Vermont | 2 | 219 |
Dist. of Columbia | 70 | 147 |
Rhode Island |
| 59 |
New Hampshire |
| 4 |
Delaware |
| 0 |
TOTAL | 6,877 | 76,772 |
MIDWEST | April | YTD |
Illinois | 328 | 15,895 |
Michigan | 3,040 | 10,990 |
Wisconsin | 879 | 5,034 |
Ohio | 704 | 4,196 |
Minnesota | 2,777 | 3,892 |
Indiana | 25 | 1,937 |
Nebraska | 506 | 1,368 |
Missouri | 278 | 1,058 |
Iowa | 203 | 607 |
Kansas |
| 333 |
TOTAL | 8,740 | 45,310 |
Table 3 (cont’d): JOB CUTS BY REGION, STATE
WEST | April | YTD |
California | 6,250 | 35,751 |
Texas | 5,527 | 12,696 |
Colorado | 75 | 3,879 |
Washington | 506 | 3,534 |
Arizona | 899 | 2,271 |
Nevada |
| 2,239 |
Alaska | 87 | 1,592 |
New Mexico | 307 | 1,249 |
Idaho | 604 | 904 |
Oklahoma | 372 | 600 |
Oregon | 406 | 500 |
Montana | 156 | 256 |
Utah |
| 133 |
Wyoming |
| 116 |
North Dakota |
| 100 |
South Dakota |
| 70 |
Hawaii |
| 24 |
TOTAL | 15,189 | 65,914 |
SOUTH | April | YTD |
South Carolina | 980 | 8,410 |
North Carolina | 2,193 | 6,972 |
Georgia | 574 | 5,621 |
Florida | 2,041 | 5,049 |
Tennessee | 596 | 4,141 |
Kentucky | 530 | 3,445 |
Virginia | 457 | 3,385 |
Louisiana | 564 | 2,352 |
Mississippi | 945 | 1,883 |
Alabama | 127 | 926 |
West Virginia | 210 | 210 |
Arkansas |
| 43 |
TOTAL | 9,217 | 42,437 |
Table 4: JOB CUTS BY REASON
| APRIL | YTD |
Restructuring | 5,838 | 55,706 |
Bankruptcy | 342 | 40,560 |
Closing | 8,479 | 35,859 |
No Reason Provided | 7,955 | 23,331 |
Cost-Cutting | 3,987 | 18,058 |
Voluntary Severance/Buyouts | 4,185 | 14,360 |
Contract Loss | 1,782 | 11,101 |
Acquisition/Merger | 1,878 | 9,568 |
Demand Downturn | 249 | 7,656 |
Relocation (Domestic) | 1,809 | 3,434 |
Market Conditions | 2,135 | 2,359 |
Financial Losses | 71 | 2,256 |
Wildfire | 1,431 | |
Technological Update | 1,022 | |
Relocation (Overseas) | 166 | 935 |
Consolidation | 715 | |
Hurricane Michael | 600 | 600 |
Tariffs | 377 | |
Fired | 303 | |
ICE Inquiry | 280 | 300 |
Hurricane Florence | 115 | |
Reorganization | 113 | 113 |
New Focus | 89 | 89 |
Government Regulation | 55 | |
Contract Dispute | 50 | |
Labor Dispute | 40 | 40 |
Flood | 25 | 25 |
Coal Downturn | 15 | |
TOTAL | 40,023 | 230,433 |
[xxxnobio]
include(“/home/aleta/public_html/files/ad_openx.htm”); ?>
