Job cuts remain unchanged in May

The pace of downsizing remained unchanged in May, as U.S. employers announced plans to cut 37,135 positions from payrolls during the month.

That is just 1.8 percent more than the 36,490 job cuts in April, according to the report released Wednesday by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The May total was also about the same as a year ago, declining just 4.3 percent from the 38,810 job cuts announced in May 2010. May marks the third time this year and the tenth time in the last 14 months that announced job cuts totaled less than 40,000.

Employers have now announced 204,374 job cuts in 2011, 21 percent fewer than the 258,319 planned layoffs reported in the first five months of 2010.

The government and non-profit sector continues to dominate monthly job-cut announcements, reporting 14,755 in May or nearly 40 percent of all job cuts during the month. The May total was up 37 percent from April's 10,371, but 11.6 percent lower than the 16,697 government job cuts announced in May 2010.

Since January 2009, the government and non-profit sector has announced 380,523 job cuts.

Government cutbacks are bleeding into the private sector, where job cuts in the aerospace and defense industry have experienced a mini-surge. A total of 5,778 job were cut in May, bringing the year-to-date total to 17,570. While the five-month total is still relatively low, it marks a dramatic increase from a year ago. The 2011 five-month total is now just 1,580 fewer than the 2010 year-end total of 19,150.

“Recent economic news definitely has been mixed. Orders for durable goods fell in April. Filings for jobless claims unexpectedly increased in the most recent week of data. The outlook for the housing market remains grim. Yet, corporate profits continue to rise and job creation in the private sector is accelerating with employers adding 760,000 new workers to their payrolls since February.” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "With the lack of clarity, it is no wonder that one reading on consumer confidence showed improvement in May, while another showed a significant decline.

“Despite several signs of weakness in the recovery, the continued slow pace of downsizing outside of the government sector suggests that employers do not see these as long-term problems," he added. "Most employers realize that these types of ups and downs are typical during recoveries. So, it is unlikely that we will see a sudden resurgence in corporate downsizing in the months ahead unless there is a major shock to the economy.”