Spring sometimes brings a strange mix of weather, and this April, in the news as well. As I write, Muammar Gaddafi and Charlie Sheen are playing tug of war with the headlines, techies are foaming at the mouth over the iPad 2 and the Wisconsin governor has signed union-busting legislation that could reintroduce the glory days of the Industrial Revolution.

And then there's the economy. According to the latest figures from ADP, and the U.S. Dept. of Labor, February hiring was up, initial claims for unemployment benefits were down, and small to midsized companies seemed to be leading the charge to economic recovery.

But adding some frozen rain to that sunny forecast, there are also reports of corporate layoffs—not surprisingly in the government and nonprofit sectors with the threat of funding cutbacks. A new report by outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. indicates that job cuts at U.S. companies increased in February for the second consecutive month and reached the highest total since March 2010. Retail, government and nonprofit employers were doing most of the layoffs, according to the study.