The April 2016 Challenger Gray US layoffs report 5 May 2016
5.8% vs 31.7% prior y/y
The energy sector announced another 19.7k layoffs and that's now 72.6k for the year. Intel led the cuts in computers with 12k.
US Challenger layoffs
Cuts in the computer sector are up 262% for the year so far vs the same period last year. It's not always a sign of economic trouble though;
"However, it is not unusual to see heavy job cuts a strong economy. In December 1998, near the height of the dot.com boom, we recorded more than 103,000 planned workforce reductions. The fact is, companies are constantly retooling, and sometimes the best time to do that is when the economy is strong," said Challenger.
I'll let you make your own judgements.