It wasn't too long ago that US employers were falling all over themselves to compete for new candidates. Six-figure entry-level salaries and hire-in perks like shiny new roadsters and five-figure cash bonuses were the extreme, but many employers were offering great salaries and nice perks to attract and hang on to good employees. The unemployment rate ranged between a mere 3.9% and 4.1%.

But now, the start of the new year doesn't look so hot. The stock market is in the toilet, economic growth has significantly slowed, consumer confidence is at a four-year low, dot-coms are folding left and right, and even solid, well-established companies are issuing earning warnings and laying off workers by the thousands. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unemployed people rose by about 300,000 to nearly 6.0 million, pushing the January unemployment rate from 4.0 to 4.2%. Amazon.com, AOL, JC Penney, Lucent Technologies, DaimlerChrysler, and then some, have recently announced massive layoffs.

The good news is, some economists say that it's not a crisis, but rather just a warning that things could get worse. They expect Greenspan's interest rate cuts to head off the looming recession. Despite its rise, unemployment still hovers at the lowest it's been since February, 1970, when it was 4.2% during President Nixon's term. The relatively low unemployment rate combined with other statistics, show that the job market is still good in many sectors.

Nevertheless, as we've seen, many companies are far too willing to swing the layoff axe at the first sign of trouble. Favorable statistics and a forecasted, economic turnaround don't mean squat, if you're handed a pink slip tomorrow. So how can you tell if you might get laid off in this economic downturn, temporary or not?

Often, companies start showing signs that they are trying to avoid layoffs or worse, preparing for the inevitable. Below are some of the more obvious signs.

If you think about it, you might know as much or more than some of the people upstairs. For example, if you work in sales, you might know that quotas are way below norm. If you work in field engineering, you might notice far fewer customer installations. Do things like that always mean that layoffs are coming? Of course not. Companies have seasonal and economic sales dips all the time, and are always looking for ways to improve the bottom line. So, if you see only one or two signs, it might not be a big deal. But if you see more, especially along the lines of earning warnings, budget cuts, hiring freezes and restructuring, it just might be time to get your resume up to date and become more useful on your job.

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