Friday, January 13, 2012

Layoffs 2012: A New Threat of Economic Retreat

24/7Wall Street reports that the public and the press usually measure unemployment one month at a time as data from ADP and the federal government are issued. The jobs market can also be tracked in another way. Mass layoffs occurring over very brief periods are a sign of how corporations and governments view the financial world.

In the past few days, firings have neared a recent peak among some of the largest companies in the U.S. One troubling sign is that the layoffs are happening across a wide number of industries. The “downsizings” could be a coincidence, or they may be a signal that growth has slowed in several sectors of the economy.

Novartis, the drug giant, said it will fire 1,960 people in the U.S. New product introductions have slowed. Some current products have sales difficulties. But part of the problem is that revenue is off and the company does not see that recovering enough soon.

Layoffs at U.S. financial firms may reach as high as 60,000 this year. Most recently, RBS said it will cut 3,000 people. Many more cuts may be in the offing. Apparently the government has asked Bank of America to set a plan to pull out of a number of markets across the U.S. That cannot be done effectively without personnel cuts...


Read more: http://247wallst.com/2012/01/13/in-layoff-wave-a-new-threat-of-economic-retreat/

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