• by Sara Guaglione , August 6, 2019

Layoffs surged in May 2019, before slowing in June, according to an analysis by The Information of state regulatory filings, news reports and data collected by staffing firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The bump in May was fueled by a round of cuts at IT services firm DXC Technology.

Layoffs in the two industries — including telecommunications — totaled 35,284 from January to the end of June 2019, compared with 14,315 over the same period last year.

On the publisher side, layoffs in May were led by The Times Picayune in New Orleans, which let go of 161 employees — nearly its entire staff — after it was acquired and merged into The Advocate to create a daily newspaper and website.

Some 200 people were let go at GateHouse Media, which this week acquired Gannett, creating the largest newspaper group in the country.

The Racine, Wisconsin Journal Times laid off 39 people, and the Philadelphia Media Network (which includes The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com) let go of 30.

June’s biggest cuts in the publisher world came from The Youngstown Vindicator in Ohio. The daily newspaper is shutting down and laid off 144 editorial employees and 250 carriers.

The Reading Eagle (Reading, Pennsylvania) let go of 84 staffers in June, Maker Media had 22 exit, 16 at Lee Enterprises and 13 at Entertainment Weekly.

A recent report by the Pew Research Center found that around a quarter of newspapers with an average Sunday circulation of 50,000 or more experienced layoffs in 2018.

U.S. newspaper jobs fell by 47% between 2008 and 2018.