Corporate Layoffs 101,731 in February Monday March 5, 10:02 AM EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. corporations announced almost three times as many layoffs in February compared to a year earlier, but planned job cuts were down from January's record high level, international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said on Monday. Companies announced 101,731 layoffs in February, down 28 percent from January's total of 142,208 -- the highest number of planned job cuts ever reported for one month in the survey's eight year history, the report said.

February's planned job cuts were nearly triple the 35,415 planned job cuts announced in February last year, the report said. Since the start of December 2000, job cuts have totaled 377,652 compared to 130,752 during the same three-month period a year ago.

"The extraordinary three-month job cutting binge is hard evidence that a slowdown is occurring," said John Challenger, chief executive at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Even during the heavy 1990s corporate downsizing, we did not see monthly figures like this."

The automotive sector has led industries so far this year with 57,656 job cut announcements, including 22,697 in February. Telecommunication companies had 42,879 planned layoffs during the first two months of the year, while retailers have announced 26,733 job cuts.

E-commerce companies have said they planned to cut 21,383 jobs so far in 2001, and computer companies including both hardware and software firms said they were trimming 16,242 jobs.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas is a Chicago-based international outplacement firm that tracks job cut announcements each month reported in the U.S. media and to state governments.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 05, 2001