According to career placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, announced job cuts surged by two hundred and eighteen percent in January. Announced layoffs were particularly intense at energy and retail companies. In total American employers announced more than seventy five thousand job cuts in January.
That represented a big jump from December, when fewer than twenty four thousand layoffs were announced. Job cuts last month were about forty percent worse than during the same month one year ago. Walmart alone announced that it will shut two hundred and sixty nine stores worldwide, potentially putting up to ten thousand American workers out of work.
As reported by CNNMoney, lower energy prices are also helping to produce layoffs, with some oil firms already going bankrupt and survivors like Halliburton cutting costs and staffing. Many economists still believe that the U.S. economy will bounce back after getting off to a rough start in twenty sixteen, but renewed momentum will depend largely on American consumers continuing to spend. If layoffs continue to expand, that could cramp spending and put the economic recovery at risk.
