WASHINGTON — There were 115,730 layoff intentions announced in September, up sharply from 51,114 in August and from the 37,151 job cuts announced in September 2010, job placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc. said in a report released Wednesday. The data was not seasonally adjusted.
Layoffs in September were led by the government sector, which reported 54,182 job reductions in the month. Of those, 50,000 were from a planned troop reduction by the U.S. Army.
The financial sector announced 31,167 layoff intentions in September. Bank of America accounted for 30,000 of those.
“It would be easy to look at the September job-cut figure alongside some of the other less-than-stellar economic news that has been reported lately and draw the conclusion that the economy is indeed headed for a double dip,” said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger Gray .
“However, it is important to keep in mind that 80,000 cuts, or nearly 70% of last month’s total, came from just two organizations: Bank of America and the United States Army,” he added.
