The US pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries shed just 308 jobs in March 2010, compared with the 17,700 jobs lost in the sector in February 2010 and also in March 2009, according to a report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas of Chicago, Illinois. In the first quarter of 2010, these industries cut 26,165 jobs, just over half of the 48,665 that were slashed in the same period last year, the report found. A total of 61,109 jobs were lost in the sector in 2009. James Pedderson, the company's public-relations director, says that the large number of cuts in February and in 2009 resulted largely from mergers. “Companies have pulled back on downsizing and are starting to stabilize now,” he says. But he warns that hiring is not yet on an upswing.