NEW YORK (Reuters) - The number of planned layoffsat U.S. firms rose slightly in September, though it was thesecond lowest level of the year, a report Wednesday said.

Employers announced 37,151 planned job cuts last month, upseven percent from the 34,768 job cuts reported in August,according to the report from global outplacement consultancyChallenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

"The low job-cut numbers we are seeing in almost everysector do not necessarily translate into increased hiring,"John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray &Christmas, said in a statement.

"There is hiring going on in the economy, but it is notenough make a discernible dent in the number of unemployed," hesaid.

The September job-cut figure was down from a year ago, whenthe report found 66,404 planned layoffs.

Overall, employers announced 411,272 job cuts so far thisyear, which was 64 percent below the 1,136,908 layoffsannounced by this point in 2009.

The government and non-profit sector, which announced11,091 job cuts during the month, have continued to struggle.The pharmaceutical sector, which has announced 43,334 cuts thisyear, including 6,069 in September, was responsible for thenext biggest overall job cuts.

"Government employers ... are typically big contributors tojob creation, not only through their own hiring, but also bypurchasing goods and services from the private sector," saidChallenger. "Unfortunately, this massive part of the economicengine simply is not firing on all pistons."

"Employers in the private sector have the cash to spend onnew equipment and employees, but are waiting for demand toincrease enough to warrant the investment," he said.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Andrew Hay)