Despite recent signs that the U.S. economy may be starting to emerge from recession, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still losing their jobs.
A report by ADP Employer Services Wednesday found private U.S. companies cut 532,000 jobs in May. And a second report by private consulting firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas found the number of planned job cuts in May is up more than seven percent compared to the same time last year.
Both reports say the number of layoffs is down compared to April. But Challenger, Gray and Christmas warns even though planned job cuts by U.S. companies have dropped for the four consecutive months, the decline could be short-lived.
The U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release its unemployment report on Friday. Economists surveyed by the Bloomberg news agency expect the U.S. unemployment rate to rise to about 9.2 percent.
Last month the Labor Department said April's unemployment rate rose to a 25-year high of 8.9 percent even as the pace of layoffs eased somewhat.
The world's largest economy has lost at least 5.7 million jobs since slipping into recession in December of 2007.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters
