US planned layoffs total 33,825 in Aug, up 19.4% from prior month

U.S.-based employers announced plans to cut payrolls by 33,825 in August, up 19.4 percent from number of job cuts announced in July, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The August job-cut total is 5 percent higher than the same month last year, when 32,188 cuts were announced. This month's total marks the first increase in job cuts in the past five months of payroll cuts in March.

Year-to-date, employers announced 289,132 planned job cuts, down 26.1 percent from the 391,288 cuts announced through the first eight months of 2016.

"Although job cuts have risen this month, they continue to be significantly lower compared to the same time last year," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger. "Although we have seen high layoffs in retail with store closings and some companies filing for bankruptcy, there has also been increased hiring in new areas of the sector as retailers build out their e-commerce platforms. Shipping and technology jobs are expanding and going unfilled. We are seeing a labor market in which skilled technical and logistics/supply chain talent is in high demand," said Challenger.