In Private Employment Reports, Firing Falls as Hiring Rises

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After a 61 percent increase in March, the number of planned job cuts announced by American employers fell sharply in April to 38,326, 43 percent fewer than the 67,611 layoffs the previous month. The April job-cut figure is the lowest since July 2006 and comes just two months after the previous low of 42,090 in February….

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So far this year, employers have announced 219,509 job cuts, 69 percent fewer than the 711,100 announced in the first four months of 2009. At the current pace averaging 54,877 job cuts per month, annual job cuts could end the year below 700,000 for the first time since 2000.

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Nonfarm private employment increased 32,000 from March to April 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report. The estimated change in employment from February to March 2010 was revised up, from a decline of 23,000 to an increase of 19,000.

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In addition, the revised estimate of the monthly change in employment from January to February 2010 shows a modest increase of 3,000. Thus, employment has increased for three straight months, albeit only modestly. The slow pace of improvement from February through April is consistent with the pause in the decline of initial unemployment claims that occurred during the winter months.