In addition, negotiations with municipal unions could produce enough savings to restore more workers or avert future layoffs.

And as layoffs continue to grow, employers will be asking more of workers, and the specter of future layoffs means they are likely to get it.

The new production had stayed on shelves, unsold, raising the prospect of production cutbacks and future layoffs.

Any future layoffs, they said, would probably be at headquarters rather than in operational jobs.

The agency said yesterday that "future layoffs are not expected."

Donald R. Frahm, its president, said he hoped attrition might offset the need for future layoffs.

Mr. Champy, the consultant, said that midlevel managers would likely face the brunt of future layoffs.

Economic uncertainty, particularly about future layoffs, continues to hold back potential home buyers in the New York metropolitan area, however.

Since factory orders are a gauge of manufacturing industry plans for production, a decrease often forecasts a slump and future layoffs.

A decrease in orders may forecast an industrial slump with future layoffs.