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June Layoffs Rise 5% YoY and 8% MoM

“A jump in job cuts in the computer and education sectors drove an increase in layoffs at U.S. firms in June, even as the pace of downsizing in the first half of the year improved overall, a report on Wednesday showed.

Employers announced 39,372 planned job cuts last month, up 8.2 percent from 36,398 in May, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. June’s layoffs were also up 4.8 percent from a year ago.

Still, the number of job cuts in the first half of the year was down 8.5 percent from the first six months of 2012.

With the third quarter typically a slow period for downsizing, that puts layoffs on track to see the second-lowest yearly total since 2000, said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

“Unless, there is a major shock to the economy in the second half of 2013, we could see layoff activity continue to decline toward pre-2000 levels,” Challenger said in a statement.

The report comes ahead of Friday’s key U.S. jobs report, which is forecast to show the pace of hiring cooled slightly in June, while the unemployment rate is expected to dip to 7.5 percent.

The computer industry led the increase in layoffs for June, with 10,133 workers losing their jobs. That was followed by the education sector, which cut 5,629 positions…..”

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Euro Zone Unemployment Hits Record Highs

“LONDON (AP) — Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro hit another all-time high in May after the previous months’ figures were revised down, official data showed Monday.

Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, said the eurozone’s unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point in May to the new all-time high of 12.1 percent. That’s a new record for the region following the revisions as April’s original 12.2 percent estimate was amended to 12.0 percent.

The figures will make sobering reading for the region’s politicians as they gather in Berlin this week to tackle the problem of youth unemployment — nearly one in four people aged under-25 in the eurozone are out of work.

Across the eurozone, there were 19.22 million people unemployed, 67,000 higher than the previous month — a closer look at the figures show that Italy was largely behind the increase….”

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Manpower Says Employers Plan on Hiring the Most Workers Since 2008

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – More employers in the United States plan to hire workers next quarter than in any period since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a survey by Manpower Group, the global employment services giant.

Manpower’s quarterly survey released Tuesday found most employers around the globe were uncertain about hiring more workers in the July through September period given tepid consumer demand. There were certain bright spots, however, with employers in the United States and some parts of Europe feeling cautiously optimistic.

“If you look at it from a global perspective, the overall feeling is that there are definitely challenges,” said Manpower’s CEO Jeff Joerres. But he said employers are more optimistic than in past months about global economic prospects.

Manpower, which surveyed 42 economies, found that employers in 31 countries and territories planned to hire next quarter. Hiring intentions strengthened in 17 economies, including Spain, Greece and the United States, compared to the previous quarter.

Hiring intentions remained unchanged in four economies and weakened in 21, including France, China and India….”

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Gallup Survey: Less People are Working Today Than a Year Ago

“As the world waits breathless for some Goldilocks print in tomorrow’s non-farm payroll data, Gallup’s most recent survey of employment trends does not paint a pretty picture for the real economy. Though, by the ‘adjustment bureau’ and their Arima-X goal-seeking, nothing is ever clear, not only is the payroll-to-population (the number of people working) worse than a year ago but the unemployment rate is also rising with under-employment – at 18.0% – near 15 month highs. If the NFP print plays out in line with this, the estimate of 165k will be woefully over-optimistic, leaving the question of whether bad-is-good, or have we crossed the Rubicon of belief in moar is better.

 

Via Gallup:

The U.S. Payroll to Population employment rate (P2P), as measured by Gallup, worsened in May, dropping to 43.9%, from 44.5% in April. P2P is also down from May 2012, when it was 44.4%

The decline in P2P versus 2012 indicates that fewer people worked full-time for an employer this May compared with a year ago. The 43.9% found this May is similar to the 43.7% recorded in 2011 and 44.0% in 2010.

Gallup’s P2P metric is an estimate of the percentage of the U.S. adult population aged 18 and older who are employed full time by an employer for at least 30 hours per week. P2P is not seasonally adjusted.

Gallup’s unadjusted unemployment rate for the U.S. workforce was 7.9% for the month of May, a half-point increase over April, and statistically unchanged from May 2012 (8.0%).

Gallup’s seasonally adjusted U.S. unemployment rate for May was 8.2%, up from 7.8% in April…..”

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$ZNGA to Pink Slip 18% of Workforce After Announcing Poor Earnings

“Zynga confirmed it was laying off 18 percent of its workforce — which represents 520 employees — in a bid to reduce costs, as it seeks to drastically restructure its troubled business.

The move today will affect every part of the San Francisco social gaming company, cutting $80 million in staff costs. It will also include the closing of its offices in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, as well as other infrastructure costs, adding to the total expense reduction.

In addition, Zynga has now said in a press release that it is downgrading in its investor guidance for the second quarter with results at the lower end of what Wall Street has been expecting….”

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German Unemployment Climbs Four Times Average Estimates

“German unemployment rose more than four times as much as economists estimated in May as the euro area’s sovereign debt crisis and a long winter took their toll on Europe’s largest economy.

The number of people out of work climbed a seasonally adjusted 21,000 to 2.96 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said today. That’s the fourth straight monthly gain. Economists predicted an increase of 5,000, according to the median of 35 estimates in aBloomberg News survey. The adjusted jobless rate held at 6.9 percent, just above a two-decade low of 6.8 percent….”

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Head Hunters Report Business Uptick as Confidence Rises

“Business at executive-recruitment companies is improving, buoyed by increasing confidence among corporate leaders and a stabilization in hiring for senior positions in the financial-services industry.

Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (HSII) and Russell Reynolds Associates say they see some increase in demand, a trend that was echoed in a recent survey of consultants by William Blair & Co., an independent investment firm. Meanwhile, sentiment among chief executive officers strengthened in April to the highest level in almost two years, as the Chief Executive magazine confidence index rose to 6.07 from 5.55 the prior month, based on an e-mail survey conducted by the magazine.

Rising CEO confidence is a “key indicator” that’s helping to boost demand in the executive-recruitment industry, saidTimothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management in New York, which manages more than $1.5 billion. “In the mid-to-later stages of an economic expansion, competition for business leadership intensifies, prompting more companies to employ search firms to attract talent.”

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annualized rate in the three months ended March 31, following a 0.4 percent gain in the fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department. Growth was slower than the 3 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Revenue Growth…”

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Americans Applying for Unemployment Falls to a Five Year Low

“WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits fell by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, a fresh five-year low. The decline signals fewer layoffs and possibly more hiring.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the four-week average, a less volatile figure, dropped 6,250 to 336,750. That the fewest since November 2007, before the recession began.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Weekly applications have fallen about 9 percent since November and are now at a level consistent with a healthy economy.

The job market has also improved over the past six months. Net job gains have averaged of 208,000 a month from November through April. That’s up from only 138,000 a month in the previous six months.

Still, much of the job growth has come from fewer layoffs — not increased hiring. Layoffs fell in January to the lowest level on records dating back 12 years, though they have risen moderately since then. At the same time, overall hiring remains far below pre-recession levels and unemploymentremains high at 7.5 percent….”

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Hopefully Slowing Worker Productivity Will Inspire More Hiring

“WASHINGTONU.S. worker productivity barely grew from January through March after shrinking in the final three months of 2012. Weak productivity growth could prompt employers to hire more if consumers and businesses continue to increase spending.

The Labor Department says productivity rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter, after shrinking 1.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Labor costs increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.5 percent, below the fourth quarter’s 4.4 percent gain….”

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The Challenger, Gray, & Christmas Report Shows Planned Layoffs Have Fallen to the Lowest Levels of the Year

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell to their lowest level of the year in April, suggesting slowing economic growth has not translated into significant job losses, a report showed on Thursday.

Employers announced 38,121 planned job cuts last month, down nearly 23 percent from 49,255 in March, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. It was the lowest level since last December.

April’s layoffs were also down 6 percent from a year ago…..”

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