More bad news is coming on the jobs front, if Challenger, Gray & Christmas is right in its assessment. The report for the month of October shows that layoffs rose by 41% from the prior month after having seen lowest levels in about two years. As you see with the Labor Department reports, there is a seasonality winding down in the fourth quarter as businesses budget ahead.

The report shows that U,S,-based employers have said that they plan to cut 47,724 jobs in October. While it is up 41% from September and can be partly explained by the seasonality, the report is still up 12% from October of 2011. This also represents the highest reading since May, when companies were planning for a slowdown ahead of the summer.

It was the Automotive sector cutting the most jobs, with 11,615 planned cuts. Other sectors leading the cuts were consumer products, electronics and industrial goods.

If you looked at the newest 2012 layoff kings, this increase in layoffs should be of little surprise.

JON C. OGG

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