Employers are firing less, but unemployment claims still on the rise

While job cuts went slightly up last week to 33,816, the quarterly total for job cuts is the lowest it’s been since 2000, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., an outplacement company.

In spite of a decrease in job cuts, jobless claims increased 4,000 to 367,000, according to the Department of Labor.

"Layoffs are definitely at prerecession levels," John A. Challenger, chief executive at Challenger, told Nasdaq. "Unfortunately, hiring has not returned to those levels."

Though jobless claims still sit at the lowest levels in two months, the jobless rate increased to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent, according to Businessweek.

The quarterly total of job cuts sits at 102,910, which is 27 percent less than last quarter’s total of 139,997, according to Challenger.

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