More Layoffs Just In Time For Christmas, Survey Finds
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Tens of thousands of workers are getting bad news in the form of a pink slip for Christmas.
Chicago-based Challenger, Gray and Christmas says, for the third straight month, employers' planned job cuts went up in November.
More than 57,000 jobs were due to be slashed, 20 percent more than in October and 34 percent higher than a year before.
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Challenger Vice President Rick Cobb says the food industry is leading the surge.
The shutdown of Hostess alone threw 18,500 employees out of work.
At the same time, for the year, Cobb says the total number of layoffs is still 14 percent lower than last year: 491,000, compared with 564,000 for the same period in 2011.
One bright spot for Chicago: Capital One Financial Corp. announced Thursday that the company will open a new office space in the Loop.
Capital One will be sub-leasing approximately 65,000 square feet of office space located in the former headquarters of United Airlines at 77 West Wacker Drive.
The new office will house Capital One's U.S. Card business and will accommodate approximately 350 associates when fully occupied at the end of 2013.
