U.S.-based companies have eased their layoffs in February, as reported by Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday, after soaring to a six-month high in January.
There were only 61,599 job cuts for February, Challenger reported, a figure which is less than the 75,114 jobs slashed in January.
Even with this month-to-month drop, company downsizing is still 22 percent higher in February this year compared to the figures in February 2015. From January to February this year, reported layoffs were 32 percent higher compared with the same two-month period last year.
Most of the pink slips, about 40 percent, issued in February came from the energy sector, with a total of 25,051 job cuts made by this industry.
Another report on Thursday showed the resiliency of the U.S. economy adding proof that the U.S. labor market is strengthening.
This report says that the announced layoffs in the country dropped to 18 percent in February. The sustained growth in the country's labor market indicates that the economy is regaining its momentum after a slow fourth quarter growth last year.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, there was an increase of the initial claims for state unemployment benefits of 6,000 reaching to a seasonally adjusted 278,000 for the week ending in Feb. 27.
Unemployment claims were below the threshold of 300,000, which the Labor Department says is a sign of a healthy labor market condition for this year.
February also saw oil prices rising again, although they were still under 43 percent compared to one year ago.
"Low oil prices continue to take a toll on workers in the energy and industrial goods sectors. Since January of 2015, these two sectors alone have seen workforce reductions in excess of 200,000, the majority of which were attributed to oil prices," said John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
