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Report - Job cuts to again outnumber gains

January 12, 2009

More U.S. employers plan to cut jobs in January than add positions, according to the leading indicators of national employment report from the Society for Human Resource Management. This is only the second time since the report began in 2004 it found that both manufacturing and service-sector employers plan to make more cuts than hires. The first time was last month's report.

The report's survey found that 17.8% of manufacturers plan to add staff in January while 38.0% plan to reduce personnel for a net decrease of 20.2%. That is a reverse from a year ago when employers estimated a net increase in staff of 28.2%.

In the service sector, employers estimated a net employment decrease of 9.8% for January. A year ago, service-sector employers planned to add jobs with a net increase of 22.9%.

The report is based on a survey of private-sector human resource professionals at more than 500 manufacturing and more than 500 service-sector companies.