Steven Wood Layoffs Quotations

With a longer-term view, layoffs have accelerated, job creation has slowed, and joblessness has increased.

Labor markets are deteriorating rapidly. Layoffs remain at a fast pace, while hiring has all but stopped. As economic activity continues to unravel, there are few prospects for a near-term turnaround. The national unemployment rate, now at 4.9 percent, should breach 6 percent before the economy begins to recover.

Labor markets are deteriorating quickly in the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11. The economy was quite weak before the attacks, which have accelerated the pace of layoffs. As layoffs spiral higher, hiring activity has stopped, giving a strong upward push to joblessness.

The pace of layoffs is rising again, while new hiring has stopped. These trends will likely be extended because of the economic dislocations associated with this week's tragic events.

The pace of layoffs is rising again, while new hiring has stopped, ... These trends will likely be extended because of the economic dislocations associated with this week's tragic events.

Layoffs continue to rise and job creation continues to slow,

The initial wave of layoffs in those industries most directly affected by the terrorist attacks has passed. However, there is another wave rolling to shore. This second wave will be from the subsequent economic dislocations caused by the Sept. 11 events and be much more diffused through the economy.

Even as the pace of layoffs has ebbed, no new hiring is taking place, so continuing claims will rise even further and surpass their peak in the last recession. Labor market deterioration is continuing with no end in sight.

In the past year, ... the number of people receiving state benefits has increased by more than a million. Although the pace of layoffs has eased, job creation remains nonexistent.