Monthly layoffs jump to nearly 7-year high

CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Job layoffs announcements surged in the United States in November, pushed by 50,000 job cuts at Citigroup Inc., a job consulting firm said Wednesday.

U.S. employers announced 181,671 job cuts last month, the most in one month since January 2002, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Wednesday.

The financial sector, including Citigroup, announced 91,356 layoffs during the month, the second most ever for a single sector behind transportation's 96,333 layoffs announced in September 2001.

The month's layoff announcements, 148 percent higher than November 2007, puts the year's total at 1,057,645, "just shy of the 1,072,054 announced in 2005," the report said.

"Obviously, the financial sector is still struggling. Heavy job cutting also continued in the automotive sector," Challenger Chief Executive Officer John Challenger said.

However, "it is too soon to tell if and when government intervention will be effective at stemming the rate of job cuts," he said.