Unemployment claims surge in the U.S. as more big-name employers announce even more job cuts.
The Labor Department announced yesterday that applications for unemployment benefits
increased by 17,000 from the previous week to a total of 372,000. The four-week average for claims
was reported at 376,000, down only slightly from 376,750, the previous week.
These numbers are some of the highest seen since the economy's last recession in 2001.
In related job news, bot Citigroup and AT&T announced major job cuts. Citigroup announced
another 9,000 jobs will be cut -- on top of the 4,200 cuts announced during the previous quarter.
AT&T, meanwhile announced that will eliminate about 4,650 employees as part of a "streamlining" effort.
It's amazing the different names companies give to laying off employees -- downsizing,
rightsizing, correcting, smartsizing, brightsizing, and now streamlining.
In the end, it's actual people whose lives are
adversely affected, but the names given the cuts tend to cover the human side of
firing and eliminating actual people.
