US DATA: Challenger reports 66,414 planned layoffs in July, up sharply
from 41,432 in June and the highest since March 2010. The July layoffs
were led by the pharmaceutical sector, mostly due to Merck. In fact
layoffs from five big firms–Merck, Borders, Cisco, Lockheed, and
Boston Scientific–accounted for 38,100 of the 66,414 layoffs in the
month, roughly 57% of the total. Challenger noted that these spikes were
due more to business climate factors rather than the economy,
particularly in the case of Borders. See MNI main wire.