U.S. job cuts slow 9.7 percent

CHICAGO, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. job cuts slowed 9.7 percent to 71,739, but were still reeling from the U.S. housing subprime mortgage financial crisis, a consulting firm said Wednesday.

September's announced cuts, down from August's 79,459, were also 28.5 percent lower than September 2006's 100,315 job cuts, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said.

U.S. employers have announced 587,594 job cuts this year, 8.1 percent fewer than the 639,229 cuts announced by this point a year ago, the outplacement firm said.

Housing-related cuts in the financial, construction and real estate sectors account for 97,509, or 16.6 percent, of this year's layoffs, Challenger Gray said.

By contrast, these sectors represented less than 2 percent of 2006's January-September job-cut total.

Finance has led all sectors in shedding jobs, with nearly 130,000 cuts this year, Challenger Gray said. Mortgage and subprime lending institutions have been responsible for 69,664, or 54 percent, of the total.

The second-ranked job cutter, the automotive industry, has announced a relatively smaller 46,237 job cuts this year, down from the 111,642 it announced through September 2006, Challenger Gray said.