Job Cuts Lowest In January Since Report Began

On Wednesday the Challenger Job-Cut Report registered the fewest layoff announcements for any January since the measurement began in 1993. The Challenger Job-Cut Report is produced by Challenger, Grey & Christmas and tracks layoffs by industry and region.

According to the report, January 2011 cuts are down 46 percent from those announced in January 2010.

It is more common actually to see job cuts increase in January said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in the company's news release. "But what made this January figure so unusual is that it was so low. Even in the 1990s, when annual job cuts were relatively low, January still averaged more than 74,000 job cuts.", Challenger said.

In a separate positive report, payrolls among private employers rose by 187,000 in January, payroll processor ADP said. Analysts polled by Briefing.com were predicting 145,000 jobs added for the month and ahead of the Friday jobs report from the government, economists surveyed by CNNMoney are predicting the economy added 149,000 jobs in January.

The data adds to several of the first credible reports on the health of the job growth in the U.S. Those earlier reports point to significant additions ahead in the labor market for 2011.