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March job cuts increase
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April 7, 1999: 10:46 a.m. ET
Challenger Gray says reductions up year-to-year for 12th straight month
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Job reductions continued at a record pace in March, with companies announcing 68,984 in the month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement firm.
March marked the 12th straight month in which job cuts were higher on a year-to-year basis. And it brought total job reductions for the past six months to a record 456,860.
The firm also said March marked the first month in "a long time" that job cuts exceeded job creation. Last Friday, the Labor Department said 46,000 new jobs were created in March.
"While companies seemed to be hoarding workers post-merger or acquisition through February, it appears that this is not the case anymore," said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "While we do not have our own merger job-cut data for March tabulated yet, we know a large number of merger-related cuts were announced."
The financial sector accounted for the biggest chunk of the cuts: 21,660, or about 31 percent. California led all states in job reductions with 16,140; Illinois was second at 7,109.
"While voracious consumer spending has helped maintain overall economic strength, companies are still hampered by stiff pricing competition from abroad," Challenger said. "The inability to raise prices has cut into corporate profits, which, in turn, has most certainly contributed to increased job cutting." 
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