Career Advice & News Center

The latest economic data has done little to quell fears of a double-dip recession. The government has released a number of reports over the past few weeks, with data illustrating the tenuous precipice at which the U.S. economy stands. Reports issued this week indicate the U.S. labor market is continuing to struggle, which some economists contend suggests an imminent economic contraction.

ADP released its September 2011 National Employment Report this week, and analysts asserted data collected by the organization shows the dire need for action to invigorate the U.S. labor market.

The private business, which routinely unveils a monthly employment report – and with varying degrees of accuracy – said that more than 2,000 construction jobs were lost in September. What's more, ADP analysts affirmed total employment in the U.S. financial services sector remained unchanged during the month.

The federal government will unveil official September jobs data on Friday morning, and economists, public officials and the nation's 14 million unemployed will be intensely scrutinizing the latest jobs data as they work to determine whether business confidence can be restored, spurring hiring.

Analysts are increasingly pessimistic about the September job report, however. Chicago, Illinois-based consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas released a report this week concluding firings in the month rose to their highest levels in more than two years.

Employers laid off 115,730 employees in September, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That figure represents a precipitous jump from the 37,151 workers let go in the same period the year prior. A whopping 70 percent of the announced job cuts resulted from announced firings at Bank of America and the government, Bloomberg reports.

Nevertheless, company analysts asserted the rise in layoffs is not necessarily indicative of an economic contraction, but that many such firings had been announced over the past year. The winding down of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq was cited as the reason for the vast number of government layoffs, experts said.

The report also found September's job-cut announcement climbed 126 percent from the month before. Financial companies announced roughly 31,000 job cuts in September.

On the other hand, companies also said they planned to hire 76,551 workers in September, up from August's 15,201 figure. In September 2010, employers added 123,076 workers to their payrolls.