Retail Job Losses Lead January Layoff Count

Retail payrolls turned lower all last year and are starting off 2018 on another down note, rising more than 15,000 to inflate Challenger's January layoff count to 44,653. But January is often a heavy month for retail layoffs as it was last January at more than 22,000.

Challenger is one of the few reports that doesn't offer seasonal adjustments, adjustments that account for monthly idiosyncrasies and smooth out the data. Looking at the year-on-year comparison, not the monthly, helps to minimize the effects of monthly quirks and this comparison is actually favorable for today's report as last January total layoffs were even larger, at 45,934.

Due to the adjustment issue, this report is too clouded to be of much help in forecasting Friday's employment report for January. Watch later this morning at 8:30 a.m. ET for weekly jobless claims.