Job cuts down in December, but up for year

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Announced job cuts at U.S. companies dropped in December, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Thursday.

Employers announced layoffs for 41,785 workers in the month, a drop of 1.6 percent from the 42,474 workers affected by layoffs in November, the firm said.

December's total was the lowest since June, when employers announced layoffs for 17,241 workers.

In total, layoffs affected 606,082 workers for the year, a 14 percent increase from 2010, when 529,973 job cuts were announced, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement consultancy headquartered in Chicago, said.