The number of planned layoffs in the United States rose for the second month in a row in May, with the retail sector registering the highest number of job cuts, according to a report on Tuesday.
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., said planned job cuts rose by just 1.6 percent to 73,368 in May compared with 72,184 in April.
But the report showed monthly job cuts in May this year were 6.9 percent above those in May 2003, making this the first month since December that has seen a year-on-year increase.
Layoffs hit a nine-month low of 68,034 in March.
While retailers led all other sectors in May with layoffs, the financial sector ranks first among all industries in job cuts announced this year and layoffs in this sector are 84 percent higher than they were a year ago.
However, the Challenger reported noted that although overall job cuts were down from last year, there were some "worrisome trends."
"Increased job cutting in the retail, financial and industrial goods sectors is not what one would expect in a strong recovery situation," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
"Furthermore, while job cuts have remained below 100,000 for four consecutive months, we still have not returned to pre-recession levels, when job cuts averaged about 51,000 per month," he added.