Planned Job Cuts Up 33.9%, Survey of Employers Finds

The number of planned job cuts by major U.S. businesses rose in March from a year earlier, climbing to the highest level in more than a year, according to a monthly survey released Tuesday.

Planned cuts rose 33.9% last month, to 50,182 from 37,486 during March 1996, said employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Compared with a month earlier, planned dismissals increased 24% from 40,480 in February. Last month’s total was the highest since 97,379 job cuts announced in January 1996.

“The real March madness took place in the corporate arena as employers, scrambling to control wage inflation, cut 2,281 employees per day,” the firm said.

In a separate economic report, the government said U.S. wholesale sales increased in February at the fastest rate in almost three years, suggesting growth may accelerate in the months ahead as companies place new orders to maintain inventories.

February’s 2.1% gain in wholesale sales, up from a 0.8% rise a month earlier, was the largest since August 1994, the Commerce Department said.

Inventories, meanwhile, held steady at a $260.1-billion annualized level during February after rising 0.8% in January.

The economy “is perking along at a pretty good pace,” said Mark Vitner, an economist at First Union Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.

In another sign that demand was strong during February, the wholesale sales-to-stock ratio, which measures the time goods sit at wholesalers, dropped to 1.24 months, its lowest level in more than 12 years. In January, the ratio stood at 1.27 months.

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Downsizing Continues

Job cuts in the U.S. are again on the rise. Layoffs, in thousands:

May 1997: 50.2

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.