After the holiday season, it's not much of a surprise that retail was a big part of the cuts. The cuts in the financial services market does make one wonder about where that industry is headed in 2012. CNBC:
The number of job cuts announced by employers jumped 28 percent in January, led by retailers and financial firms, according to the latest report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Still, job losses announced last month were the lowest on record for a January, the month that typically sees the greatest number of layoffs, the firm said. Employers last month said they planned to cut 53,486 positions, compared with 41,785 job cuts announced in December. The January job cuts were 39 percent higher than during the same period a year earlier, when employers said they planned 38,519 cuts.
