US DATA: Challenger reports 33,816 planned layoffs in Sept, up from
32,239 in Aug, but down sharply from 115,730 in Sept 2011, when there
were large government layoffs. The energy and insurance sectors led the
increase. YTD there have been 386,001 layoffs announced vs 479,064
layoffs YTD in 2011, with slower government layoffs the key factor. Also
in Sept, there were 425,683 hiring intentions announced, but the large
majority of those, 413,700, were due to seasonal hiring in the retail
and food sectors, Challenger said. See MNI wire.