CHICAGO, July 6 (UPI) -- U.S. companies announced 41,432 layoffs in June, keeping the half-year's job losses at the lowest level since 2000, a private consulting firm said Wednesday.
The international outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said June's contribution pushed the total for January through June to 245,806 announced job cuts, the fewest in 11 years for the first two quarters of the year.
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Month-by-month, layoffs have increased for two months. Announced layoffs in June were 11.6 percent higher than May, and that month's announced job cuts were 2 percent higher than April.
The announced job cuts for the first half of the year are 17.4 percent lower than the same period of 2010, when announced layoffs reached 297,677.