Planned Layoffs Skew Sharply Higher

A massive 44,000 layoff announcement at Verizon skewed October's count sharply higher, to 75,644 vs what was an elevated 55,285 in September's count that was skewed by a mass layoff at Wells Fargo. Announcements of layoffs don't mean that layoffs will be immediate with Verizon's plan offering severance packages to managers. But there was another big layoff announcement in the month, this from Sears' bankruptcy and the closing of 142 stores which totaled 3,044 job cuts.

These results may have little immediate bearing on October's employment report for tomorrow, yet they may be an early warning shot that labor demand may be peaking.