The ANNOUNCED (as in big companies) layoffs may be tapering off (and I really don't even believe this), but we have only begun the layoffs of 1 or 2 people from small companies, or the uncounted millions from hiring freezes. That's what a hiring freeze is - someone leaves or retires, and you don't offer that job to anyone else (when normally you would have). Whether the person is hired and then let go, or never hired in the first place, that's a person who will be out of work.

Announced layoffs RESULT in people taking their children out of daycare since there is an unemployed adult at home (layoff of child care worker), in people deciding that they can't go out for pizza every weekend like they did (layoff of waitress at pizza place), and in people not buying clothes, new towels, fancy jam at the supermarket, or Tide (store brand will do). All these actions will eventually result in other people being laid off, but not always in "announcements."

Using the web as a statistical reference seems quite bizarre - thank god we don't base actual govt economic theory and response on this information (?) source.

February nonfarm payroll came in at -651,000, taking the unemployment rate up to 8.1%, a 25 year high. The unemployment rate in California is now well over 10%. There were huge revisions up in the December and January figures. Remember when the market used to have a heart attack over a job loss of 100,000? Those were the days! More than 4.4 million workers have lost their jobs since December, 2007, taking the total unemployed to a record 12.5 million. It may be only a matter of months before we surpass the 1981 peak unemployment rate of 10.8%. These figures suggest that the current quarter GDP could be as low as -8%, the worst since the thirties .www.madhedgefundtrader.com

Well, in my world, when the number of stories about something drops, it mostly means that people are getting tired hearing about it. But I admit that your world might be less cynical than mine.

It's peaked huh,ya right

Great information, thanks.

This is exciting news. The possibility remains that it means nothing at all, but any hopeful sign is to be welcomed.

I've been monitoring a site called

http://www.layoffdaily.com/

which aggregates news of layoff, furloughs and unemployment stats every day.

I did a quick count of yesterday's real and announced job cuts, furloughs etc. It came to 20,645
Today has been kind -- so far only 3,054 announced cuts...unless the Gov of NJ makes good on his threat to cut 7,000 state jobs. We hear a lot about the big cuts by the big companies, but all those companies and organizations cutting 30, 50, 70 people at a time...those add up, quickly.