Keeping Track ...

Job-cut announcements

job cuts in the United States are speeding ahead. Despite a decline in layoffs in recent months, job losses in the first half of this year have already surpassed the same period in 1998, the largest downsizing year of the decade, according to employment research by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

In contrast, the Labor Department reported that first-time claims for unemployment benefits have dropped off. Some 294,000 Americans filed new claims for the week ending July 3, down by 6,000 claims from the previous week.