Challenger Gray & Christmas says U.S. retailers hired more than 420,000 people in November — up significantly from last year — and that strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday activity may lead to an above-average December, too.

Employers announced 32,004 job cuts last month, the fewest since June 2000. While firings are slowing, job growth has been restrained, highlighting why Federal Reserve officials said they’ll move forward with a plan to purchase $600 billion in bonds to bolster the economy. It was “still a lackluster year for the overall job market,” John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. “Hiring in the private sector is expected to once again be slow and steady” in 2011, he said.

“Right now, demand for new workers is not at a level that would force companies to bring in talent from outside their region. However, as the local talent pool starts to become depleted as the economy improves, companies will be compelled to cast a wider recruiting net. Unfortunately, the immobility of the workforce may mean that some employers will have to delay expansion plans, thus slowing the recovery,” he said.

In both cases, the end of the recession was followed by a period of “jobless recovery” during which payrolls continued to lose jobs and the unemployment rate continue to increase. In 1991, the jobless recovery lasted about 15 months and following the 2001 downturn, it took about 19 months for the job market to reverse course,” said Challenger. “This recession also experienced a period of jobless recovery. However, an examination of several employment trends suggests that this jobless recovery may have lasted just six months and is now on a positive track.”

"It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason behind the decline in start-up activity among former managers and executives. On one hand, it could be that the job market has improved to the point that many do not feel compelled to take the risk of going it alone. Then there is the fragility of the recovery and the uncertainty that comes with it. Many small business owners are increasingly pessimistic about business conditions and still find it difficult to get a loan," said firm CEO John Challenger.

“This could end up being the worst teen summer job market in employment records going back to 1948,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. “With data now suggesting that consumers are pulling back on spending, it is unlikely that a late hiring surge will salvage the dismal summer job situation for the nation’s youngest workers."

“Job cuts this year have declined for each of the top-five job-cutting industries. Even cuts in the government and non-profit sector are down, albeit not as dramatically as the other leading job-cut sectors. This certainly bodes well for the job market as we enter the second half of 2010,” said Challenger.

Overall, the pace of CEO turnover is 12.7 percent ahead of last year, with 566 departures announce to date. Through May 2009, a total of 506 CEO changes had been recorded.  At the current average of approximately 113 CEO exits per month, 2010 is on track to exceed 1,300 annual departures.

"In this economy, when many employees are under stress over fear of losing their jobs, this annual little distraction outweighs any potential negatives," Challenger said.