Survey: Job Cuts Hold Steady in November

CHICAGO (AP) — Planned job cuts in November were little changed from October.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas says its monthly survey of employers found they planned to cut 45,314 workers from their payrolls in November, just 0.9 percent less than a month earlier.

However, the November cuts were down 21 percent from the same month a year ago, for a second straight month of year-over-year declines.

For the year to date, employers say there are 2.5 percent fewer job cuts than during the first 11 months of 2012.

The financial sector had the most job cuts through November, more than 59,000. Challenger says that's largely because the flood of foreclosures and refinancing after the recession has been waning, and banks are shedding the extra workers who were added to handle them.