Mass layoffs on the uprise

Wasn't the end of the war supposed to spur business hiring? Instead, we have gotten this:

Job cuts announced at U.S. employers jumped in April to their highest monthly tally since November, a report showed on Monday, confirming the end of the war in Iraq did not stop companies from firing more workers.

Layoffs at U.S. firms surged 71 percent to 146,399 in April from 85,396 job cuts planned in March, job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said. That brought the year's total job cut announcements to a hefty 502,194 even as U.S. troops made rapid progress in the battle for Baghdad.

"The sharp increase in job cuts last month should serve as a warning that it is premature to conclude that the quick end to the war in Iraq will bring a quick turnaround in the economy and job market," Challenger Chief Executive John Challenger said in a statement.

Interestingly enough, it looks like the budget crisis faced by just about every state is a big factor in the job losses.

Some 40 percent of the job cuts in April came from the public sector as state and local governments cut spending during a revenue crunch, the Challenger report said.

The 57,927 job cuts announced by government agencies in April were the largest one-month total from a single industry since Sept. 11, 2001. At that time, the transportation sector, rattled by the attacks on New York and Washington, eliminated 96,333 jobs.

If Bush was seriously interested in stimulating the nation's anemic economy he could pump more money to the states, thus forestalling such economy-dampening layoffs. But the grunts at the DMV aren't important to Bush.

Bush's policies help a different type of person.

Posted May 05, 2003 04:05 PM | Comments (160)