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Layoff plans increase
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August 9, 1999: 12:21 p.m. ET
U.S. companies' intentions to lay off workers rose 7.8% in July
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. companies' intentions to reduce their work forces rose by almost 8 percent last month compared with a year earlier, though the pace was slower than the number of planned layoffs announced in June, according to a report released Monday.
U.S. businesses announced plans to cut 54,709 jobs last month, 7.8 percent more than the 50,774 cuts announced in July 1998, according to a monthly survey conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement specialist firm.
At the same time, July's announced cuts were 14 percent lower than the 63,397 announced in June, the Chicago-based firm said. Since January, employers have announced cuts of 438,257 jobs, a 36 percent increase from the first seven months of last year, the report said.
All that comes during a period of buoyant U.S. job growth. The Labor Department last week reported that 329,000 new positions were created in July, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent, within a percentage point of its 29-year-old record low of 4.2 percent.
Challenger's monthly survey tracks and tallies job cut announcements, not actual layoffs. Many companies, particularly those involved in manufacturing that employ workers based on demand, often modify their job cut plans after they're officially announced. 
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