ECONOMY

Study Suggests Healthier Labor Market: More major U.S. companies cut jobs in the 12 months ending June 30, but the total work force increased by 4.5% overall, the American Management Assn. reports in a survey of 1,003 large and mid-sized businesses. The New York-based business group said companies eliminating positions did so at the slowest average pace in the nine-year history of the survey, and that 60% balanced the cuts by creating new jobs. Fifty percent of the companies cut jobs, up from 47.3% the previous year. Those companies slashed an average of 7.7% of their work forces, down from 9.2%. The study says more firms shuffled their staffs because they were reorganizing operations rather than because they were responding to a drop in business.