[clamper1797]

But jobs cuts have shrunk to under 5,000 the past two months, giving some reason for optimism."

I'm afraid that the job cuts have shrunk ... because they are running out of jobs to cut. That's very much like the unemployment figure which is dropping ... because people are

1. running out of unemployment benefits and are no longer counted
2. are severly unemployed ... like the PhDEE who is flipping bugers or greeting customers at (Great)Wall mart

[clamper1797]

Correction ..

are severly unemployed = severely UNDERemployed