You're Not Paranoid, You're Fired

Do you want the good news about the job market first, or the bad news?

Okay, trick question. There is no good news. Only bad news and not-as-bad news.

The not-as-bad news first. The pace of layoffs in the financial industry slowed last month, the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reports. But part of the reason for the slowdown is that the industry is running low on workers to fire.

Meanwhile, other sectors are catching up when it comes to slimming down. Companies announced plans to pare 112,884 workers in October, the highest level in almost five years. So far this year, employers have said they plan to shed 875,974 jobs, a 14 percent increase over last year at this time.

Challenger Gray compiled its numbers by sifting through corporate press releases about planned staff reductions.

Of the 15 industries it tracks, the firm found that 18 accelerated the pace of job cuts last month. Financial firms (17,949 layoffs) and automakers (15,692) were at the head of the line. Together, those two industries account for 239,760 layoffs in 2008, about one-fourth of the total announced.

But other businesses are suffering, too. Transportation companies, for example, have announced 245 percent more layoffs this year compared with last; defense and aerospace cuts have risen 162 percent; media and entertainment companies (including Condé Nast, publisher of Portfolio.com) also have shed jobs faster than they did in 2007.

"The fact that nearly three out of four industry categories are cutting more jobs is proof of how widely the impact of this downturn has spread," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "A year ago, job cuts were concentrated in the financial sector and home-building industries. Job cuts are now rising across the board. In fact, October represented the biggest job-cut month of the year for several industries, including industrial goods manufacturing, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, food, and electronics."

by Mark Stein