Florida’s private employers laid off half as many workers in June as the year before — at a time when layoffs nationally increased.

Employers in Florida cut 636 jobs in June and 7,768 in the first half of the year, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said Wednesday.

In South Florida, that included 150 layoffs by tobacco company Commonwealth-Altadis in Fort Lauderdale, due to the company being acquired.

In June 2014, Florida employers dropped 1,234 jobs. The mid-year mark was 14,001, Challenger said.

Economists have said that Florida’s recovery remains on track and that more workers are entering the job market, now that more jobs are available.
Nationally, job cuts increased by about 10 percent in June, as employers announced plans to reduce payrolls by 44,842 workers during the month.

And heavier-than-expected downsizing throughout the first half of 2015 pushed the U.S. mid-year total to its highest level since 2010, Challenger said.

Employers trimmed 287,672 jobs during the first half of the year.That was up 17 percent from 2014, when the six-month total was 246,034.

Source: Sun Sentinel