Planned layoffs fall to 10-month U.S. low

Layoffs announced last month fell to the lowest level in nearly a year, adding one more piece of positive jobs news ahead of Friday's national employment report for March.

Global outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas reported that companies in its survey planned to shed 37,880 workers in March. That's down from 51,728 in February and below the 41,528 in March 2011. It also is the lowest layoff level reported since May 2011.

Meanwhile, a consensus of economists expects Friday's national jobs report to show that employers added 201,000 jobs in March, below February's gain of 227,000. Because employers always are in the process of hiring and firing, economists focus on the net gains or losses for each month.

Also Thursday, the Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 357,000 and the four-week average dropped to 361,750 -- the lowest level since early 2008.

"Both consumer products and transportation saw fewer job cuts in March after experiencing heavy cuts in February," John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. "These are key indicators of the economy's health so they will be closely monitored in the coming months for signs of distress."

The Challenger report found that telecommunications firms had announced the highest number of layoffs in March for any one sector at 4,089. At the same time, job cuts in the education sector jumped from 1,275 in February to 3,733 in March.

National job losses were driven in part by T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, which said they will cut a respective 1,900 and 750 workers after shutting call centers to save cash. Separately, Wells Fargo and online retailer QVC plan to cut a combined 685 call center workers.

Quality Wine & Spirits in Bloomington reported plans to drop 110 workers. A Delta Air Lines warehouse reported plans to lay off 66 workers in Minneapolis. More "WARN notices" as they are called, are expected, Chairez said. The reports are required when companies plan 50 or more job cuts.

For example, Best Buy said it will shut 50 stores and shed 400 workers from its Richfield headquarters. Ecolab said it will cut 70 workers in St. Paul and Eagan as a result of its recent $8.3 billion acquisition of water management firm Nalco Holding Co.

Minnesota employers reported 793 layoffs for the first three months of the year, compared with 1,846 for the same period a year ago, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, which runs the Dislocated Worker Program.

Even after Minnesota updates its March layoffs to include last week's news from Best Buy and Ecolab, "It's [still] looking more favorable as far as layoffs are concerned," Chairez said in an interview on Thursday.

Nationally, however, it's unclear if March's good fortune will hold. This week, struggling Yahoo Inc. said it would cut its workforce 14 percent. Pinnacle Airlines, which bought Mesaba Airlines in 2010, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, leaving the industry bracing for expected layoffs at the regional carrier.

Local governments reported the fewest number of expected job losses for the first quarter of 2012. Governments cut just 5,750 employees so far this year. That's down 86 percent from first quarter 2011's 41,929.

Challenger said in a statement that more government job cuts are likely.

"The potential for a surge in government cuts is significant," he said, citing "massive cuts" expected soon from the U.S. Postal Service, the Department of the Interior and pending budget cuts in the state of Illinois and in school districts around the country.