WASHINGTON, July 2: US employers announced 11.5 per cent more job cuts in June, an industry survey showed on Tuesday, hitting the turmoil-struck telecommunications sector hardest.

The number of announced job cuts rose to 94,766 in June from 84,978 in May, said the monthly survey by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

Nearly one-third of the June job cuts — 30,455 — were announced by telecom firms.

Despite rising sharply from May, the total number of announced job cuts was still down 24 per cent from 124,852 cuts announced in the same month a year ago.

Telecommunications companies have announced 165,840 job cuts so far in 2002 — far more than the runner-up automotive industry, which had announced 80,031, the survey said.—AFP