April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Fewer companies in the U.S. plan to begin cutting jobs, signaling efforts to slash costs during the recession may have peaked, a private survey found.

The share of companies planning initial staff cuts in the next 12 months fell to 5 percent in April from 13 percent in February, according to a report today by Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc., an Arlington, Virginia-based workforce consulting firm. Seventy-two percent of the 141 employers surveyed have already trimmed their workforces, up from 52 percent two months earlier.

“Companies have started to move into the next stage of their cost-cutting actions, but are also looking ahead to an eventual recovery,” Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards for Watson Wyatt, said in a statement. Employers recognize that “continuing some cost-cutting measures such as reductions in force can put them at a disadvantage once the economy improves,” she said.

The U.S. has lost about 5.1 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, making it the biggest employment slump of the post World War II era.

While firings may be easing, companies aren’t yet finished, the survey showed. Forty-one percent of the employers who have sacked workers in the past year project they’ll keep cutting staff in the next 12 months, according to the survey.

Among other findings, 72 percent of the companies surveyed have a hiring freeze, up from 56 percent in the February survey, while salary freezes have been implemented by 60 percent of respondents, up from 42 percent, according to Watson Wyatt.

Twenty-two percent of companies have reduced contributions to employee retirement plans, compared with 12 percent in the prior survey, and 22 percent cut hours, up from 13 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington Schandra1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 21, 2009 15:09 EDT