Mike: It was a very active day for layoff announcements and economic reports. The economic reports showed both some economic improvement and some decline, but it depends on the report you read. Auto sales were still depressed, but better than expected. Home sales data were a little better in February than January, but still far below that same sales in 2008. While these reports show a decrease in decline, there is little to be cheerful about, yet the market seemed pleased, which is good for those holding market investments. Tomorrow brings the always anticipated Jobless Claims number. Till then……..
Mike: Wedsneday presents a variety of economic reports related to job creation. Those reports include, Motor Vehicle Sales , Construction Spending, and MBA Purchase Applications. Onto the news.…………….
Mike: I am not often surprised by politicians lack of ethics, but I am surprised when it comes to the number of well-paid, high level politicians who seem to have every excuse imaginable for not paying their share of taxes. Below is the latest Obama cabinet nominee who was unable to prepare an accurate tax return. You would think that these people would have the best of CPAs to do their taxes, but instead they seem to hire H&R Block trainee failures. On the bright side, if you ever have to explain a tax issue with the IRS, you can say that you weren’t aware of the matter, just like Daschel, Sebelius and Geithner. After all, if those high ranking, intelligent, powerfully connected politicians don’t understand the tax code, then how are you expected to be able to do so. If you can’t trust a politician to pay their full taxes, how can you trust them to look out for your best interests? I don’t think you can.
WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding “unintentional errors” — the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee. The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that the administration released. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses.
- American Woodmark could cut 600
- AllianceBernstein cut 237
- Maple Ridge battery maker lays off 220 workers
- Evraz WARNs of 225 job cuts
- Construction spending falls for 5th straight month
- Pending home rise 2.1 percent in Feb
- Private-sector cut 742,000 jobs in March
- Employers announced fewer job cuts in March
- Blue Cross to cut 5% of workforce or 300
- Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors/News
General Economic News
Government Layoff News
US and some Canada Layoff News
International Layoff News
Hiring News and News You Can Use
– Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News –
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Bill Day - Apr 1
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7:00 AM EMike: You can take your pick from the two reports below. One indicates job losses are slowing and the other indicates the pace of job loss is increasing:
– The steady barrage of layoff news that has rocked the economy may finally be slowing, according to a report released Wednesday by an outplacement firm.
Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. reported that the number of planned job cuts announced in March fell for the second straight month.
via Challenger: Employers announced fewer job cuts in March – Yahoo! Finance.
– WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. labor market worsened again in March, as private-sector firms cut 742,000 jobs in March, signaling another terrible employment report on Friday, according to the ADP employment index released Wednesday. The report comes two days before the Labor Department reports its estimate for nonfarm payrolls.
via Private-sector cut 742,000 jobs in March, ADP says – MarketWatch
– WASHINGTON (AP) — Unemployment rates moved higher in all of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas in February with Indiana’s Elkhart-Goshen and North Carolina’s Hickory-Lenoir-Morgantown registering the biggest annual increases.
AP – Carolyn Lindsey, 47, of Washington, attends a preparatory class at an unemployment center in Washington, on Monday, March …
The U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday that all 372 metropolitan areas tracked saw their jobless rates rise in February from a year earlier.
via Jobless rates rise in all US metro areas in Feb. – Yahoo! Finance.
– NEW YORK (CNN) — Nearly 40 unemployed New Yorkers threw phones, smashed pinatas and played “pin the blame on the boss” Tuesday at the “Unemployment Olympics” in New York City.
Jobless participants gathered at Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan’s East Village for the event, created by recently laid-off computer software worker Nick Goddard.
“It’s just a lighthearted event for people to come out and have good time,” Goddard, 26 told CNN.
Former employees, from laid-off hedge fund workers and bankers to people who lost advertising and entertainment jobs, competed in themed events such as the “race towards unemployment.”
via At ‘Unemployment Olympics,’ they go for the silver lining – CNN.com.
-MANATEE — The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will move some mail processing from Manatee County to Tampa, eliminating 59 jobs and adding to the 11 percent local unemployment rate.
via 59 postal jobs cut; operation moving – Lakewood Ranch Herald – Bradenton.com.
– VISTA, Calif. — Fifteen City of Vista employees have lost their jobs in the second-round of layoffs so far this calendar year, it was reported Wednesday.
via City Of Vista Lays Off 15 More Employees – San Diego News Story – KGTV San Diego.
– Bellefontaine Neighbors — As part of a $7.2 million cut to next year’s budget, the Riverview Gardens School District announced Tuesday plans to eliminate 121 jobs — including nearly 100 teachers — before school starts this fall.
via 04/01/2009 – Riverview Gardens School District cuts nearly 100 teachers – STLtoday.com .
– The Champaign County School District has laid off over 80 members of its staff this year. According to Illinois State Law, schools are required to complete a Reduction in Force (RIF) within 45 days of the end of the current school term.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
– The nation’s largest trucking company, YRC Worldwide, parent of Akron-based Roadway, says it will cut as many as 600 nonunion support staff and corporate jobs in coming weeks to reduce costs as the recession continues to take a toll on business.
– Hardy declined to say how many Moorefield employees are losing their jobs. However, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said its actions would affect 600 jobs. The furloughs in Oklahoma will leave 100 workers jobless, according to Tulsa news reports.
American Woodmark closing one of three plants in Moorefield; Rawlings to stay open
– AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB.N) said Tuesday it had cut 237 jobs, or 4.7 percent of its worldwide staff, in the first quarter of 2009, with more layoffs planned in the second quarter as the company seeks to contain costs in the economic slump.
– Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida Inc. said Wednesday it is cutting 300 employees, or about 5 percent, from its statewide workforce.
-PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A steel company gave notice Tuesday that it plans to lay off up to 225 workers in Portland, citing a slowdown in business.
Officials with Evraz Inc. say the layoffs are likely to begin over a two-week stretch beginning in late May.
via KTVZ.com Central Oregons News, Weather and Sports Leader – Ore. company WARNs of 225 job cuts.
– About 225 ATK Launch Systems employees were laid off Monday effective immediately, according to a company spokesperson. Another 75 had opted to take early retirement.
– The economic slowdown has affected one of the largest employers in Maple Ridge, as E-One Moli Energy laid off 220 employees Monday.
The employer met with each of its workers on three shifts Monday and informed them of the decision.
via Maple Ridge News – Maple Ridge battery maker lays off 220 workers.
– This affects 177 employees at the business, the notice said. The reason cited is “economic,” and the notice said the closing occurred March 26.
– Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. is laying off about 60 of its roughly 500 employees, the company said in a release.
The Camarillo company makes high-speed semiconductors for networks. It said the cut of 12 percent of its global workforce is designed to reduce operating expenses.
via Pacific Coast Business Times – Vitesse cuts 60 jobs.
– About 50 salaried and hourly workers at MEMC learned Tuesday they no longer have jobs. The company has tried to achieve the reduction through voluntary means, a spokesman said, but some are leaving involuntarily.
via Breaking News-Herald Democrat.
– Club Car laid off 50 workers globally today, 40 from its facility in Evans, the company announced this afternoon.
– BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A greeting card company has laid off more than 50 employees as it ends its manufacturing operations in Bloomington.
via Greeting card company cuts 50 jobs in S. Indiana | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star .
– BP Solar will eliminate 140 jobs at its manufacturing facility in Frederick, the company announced Tuesday.
via BP Solar cuts 140 jobs at manufacturing facility in Frederick.
– The pain of the auto industy crisis hits a Michigan plant. Hydro is closing its aluminium tubing plant in Adrian, Michigan, affecting over 100 employees.
via Adrian’s Hydro plant to close – 3/31/09 – Toledo News – 13abc.com.
– Exide Technologies has announced it is temporarily closing its lead-acid battery formation facility in Florence The move will affect 38 employees.
via Florence plant closing today | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger.
* Sun Microsystems Inc. handed out 1,500 layoff notices to its global workforce on Tuesday, including 24 employees in Bellevue.
via Sun Microsystems to lay off 24 in Bellevue.
– The eastern Wisconsin company, Thilmany Papers, says it will cut production starting in May, eliminating about 30 jobs and reassigning 15 other workers.
via WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports –WI papermaker announces layoffs.
– MOLINE, ILL. — Deere & Company announced Tuesday that 40 employees of the John Deere Ottumwa Works will be placed on indefinite layoff in April due to reduced market conditions for the factory’s products. The layoff affects production workers with the least seniority.
via Deere announces Ottumwa layoffs : News : KTVO3 .
* WICHITA – More layoffs and a two-week plant shutdown are in the works at Cessna Aircraft, the company told employees Tuesday.
via Cessna planning more layoffs | Aviation | Wichita Eagle.
– The outsourcing could affect nine full-time and part-time employees and three student employees if it is deemed more cost effective than the current distribution system.
via UNM Press cuts jobs, targets outsourcing – New Mexico Business Weekly: .
– Mayor Ron Tendick said local plant managers notified the city of Jacksonville on Tuesday that EMI will lay off about 100 workers from the remaining work force of 123 by mid-July. Their jobs will be outsourced, Tendick said.
via EMI to cut about 100 jobs in Jacksonville – Springfield, IL – The State Journal-Register.
– Muller Martini Manufacturing Corp., a manufacturer of book binding machinery, will lay off 79 workers in its Newport News plant by May 29 due to a sharp decline in orders.
via Book binding manufacturer to lay off 79 NN workers — dailypress.com.
– Since the beginning of the year, Media Recovery/Shockwatch, now operating corporately as MRI, has let 27 of its employees go.
* WBTW News 13, the CBS affiliate covering Myrtle Beach, cut seven positions on Monday as other media outlets owned by its parent company, Media General, also laid off employees to save costs in the down economy.
via Coastal business | News 13 cuts seven positions – Business – The Sun News.
* About 175 workers at Xstrata Copper’s Kidd Creek Metallurgical Site will be affected by an eight-week shutdown starting April 13 because of weak demand for sulphuric acid.
via Xstrata shutdown impacts 175 – Timmins Daily Press – Ontario, CA .
– BRADFORD, Pa.—W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery says it will lay off 78 workers in the second set of job cuts this year for the north-central Pennsylvania company.
via Cutlery company W.R. Case & Sons to lay off 78 – The York Daily Record.
– OTTAWA, April 1 (Reuters) – Fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems (BLD.TO) (BLDP.O) is eliminating 39 positions, or about 8.5 percent of its 450 staff, to reduce costs as it faces increased pressure from the global economic downturn.
– Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson has recently eliminated 53 jobs.
via Branson Daily News :: News :: Skaggs eliminates 53 jobs.
– Robinson & Cole, the Hartford-based law firm, said it will trim its staff by 30 positions — including 11 lawyers — across the firm’s seven offices in the Northeast.
via Robinson & Cole Law Firm Cutting 30 Jobs in Northeast – Capitol Watch.
– Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell has cut 10 percent of its total workforce, including about 6 percent of its lawyers, the national law firm with substantial presence in Dallas said Wednesday.
– A struggling auto parts maker has cut 49 jobs in Auburn, a company official confirmed Monday.
via Parts maker slices 49 jobs | The Journal Gazette.
– While the distributor of news releases to media outlets eliminated jobs, it’s hiring in other areas, so the total loss represents less than 2% of its total U.S. work force of about 750 people, said Rachel Meranus, vice president of public relations.
via Crain’s Cleveland Business: PR Newswire eliminates ‘handful’ of Cleveland jobs amid broader cuts .
– Opnext Inc. said Wednesday it plans to cut 10 percent of its global work force, reduce executive salaries and director cash compensation by 10 percent, and trim general employee salaries by 5 percent.
Fremont-based Opnext (NASDAQ:OPXT), a designer and maker of optical subsystems, modules and components, said it will also eliminate cash bonuses for fiscal year 2009 and salary increases in the current fiscal year and suspend its matching contribution to the 401(k) plan.
via Opnext cutting staff, salaries, perks – Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal: .
– According to a statement issued by the La Jolla-based biopharmaceutical firm, the seven-person staff reduction is intended to provide the company additional time to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
via Therapeutic Inc. Cuts Workforce To 3 Employees – San Diego News Story – KGTV San Diego.
– The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus is reporting today that it has made what it called a “significant” work-force reduction to keep pace with rapidly declining advertising revenues.
David Horsey - Apr 1
– Workers at L.S. Starrett Co. learned Tuesday some of them will be laid off this week, although company officials said the final number has not yet been determined.
via Mount Airy News – L S Starrett cutting work force locally.
– About 50 salaried and hourly workers at MEMC learned Tuesday they no longer have jobs. The company has tried to achieve the reduction through voluntary means, a spokesman said, but some are leaving involuntarily.
via Herald Democrat.
– Talent Plus, a Lincoln human resources consulting company, said it reduced its workforce by 16 full-time equivalents, a 12 percent reduction.
via JournalStar.com – Lincoln, Nebraska – News – Business.
– Stroh Die Casting Co. plans to lay off 12 employees at its Milwaukee factory by May 29.
via Stroh Die Casting plans to cut jobs – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: .
– Churchill Corporation (CUQ:CA) says work is drying up in the Alberta oilsands, forcing it to cut 35 per cent of subsidiary Triton’s workforce despite a recent 104 per cent jump in revenues in the division.
via Churchill Corporation cuts subsidiary Triton’s workforce – Daily Commercial News.
– According to a media release, 48 employees were let go. In December, 27 employees were laid off at the manufacturing plant.
via Yankton Press & Dakotan > Archives > Community > Gehl Cuts 48 More Jobs.
– Agfa HealthCare plans to close its facility in Hartland, leaving 35 employees without jobs.
via Agfa HealthCare to close Hartland facility – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: .
– The California Media Workers Guild unit representing workers at the troubled San Francisco Chronicle said late Tuesday that the paper’s management had received about 120 applications for voluntary termination from the union’s rank and file as of 5 p.m. on March 31.
via About 120 San Francisco Chronicle staffers apply for buyouts – San Francisco Business Times: .
– Shapiro told AllThingsD today that the company has laid off 25 people, putting its total headcount somewhere in the “mid-40s,” which is a far cry from the 110 employees that Veoh had before the last round of cuts.
– More layoffs at Condé: The company confirms that it trimmed staff at Condé Nast Digital, but wouldn’t share numbers. Gawker says “20 or more employees” were laid off. Specifically, we’ve heard that Wired.com was gutted, but the cuts were across all of the digital group.
via More Cuts At Condé Nast Digital.
– Some 32 Oneida Ltd. employees are being laid off as a result of a licensing agreement the company announced it made in January and finalized this week with Robinson Home Products Inc., a spokesman said.
via Oneida to lay off 32 workers in licensing agreement deal – Utica, NY – The Observer-Dispatch.
– ROCHESTER — Frisbie Memorial Hospital announced Tuesday it laid off two dozen employees and reduced hours for more than 100 others, citing economic concerns.
via Frisbie Hospital lays off 24 – Fosters.
– VESTAL – American International Group reportedly laid off an undetermined number of workers Tuesday, though company executives could not be reached to confirm the details.
via Reports: AIG laying off employees | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.
– RENSSELAER — Fujicolor Processing notified the state today it will close a film manufacturing plant with 145 employees in Rensselaer County by July 1.
via Fujicolor plant in Rensselaer closing; 145 to lose jobs.
– 123 employees at the lumber mill will lose their jobs, while the reductions at the sheet plant and converting center will affect approximately 35 employees.
via International Paper closing mill in Franklin, Va. – Memphis Business Journal: .
– Approximately 90 employees will be impacted with the closing in the upcoming weeks of the Maysteel plant in Columbus.
via WiscNews.com : Beaver Dam Daily Citizen Online.
– Lynn S. Anderson, a spokeswoman for the firm, said the facility employs about 150 hourly workers and 25 salaried employees.
– BP is to axe 620 jobs from its solar power business – more than a quarter of that workforce – in a move it said was part of the long-term strategy to “reduce the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity.”
via BP axes 620 jobs from solar power business | Environment | guardian.co.uk .
– MEXICO CITY, March 31 (Reuters) – Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo (GMODELOC.MX) is slashing 1,200 jobs as the global economic downturn hits beer sales, the company said on Tuesday.
via Mexican brewer Modelo cuts 1,200 jobs amid crisis | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters .
– Bosnia’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal Zenica will suspend up to three quarters of its workforce in April, giving them slightly above half pay, union and company officials said on Tuesday.
– The owner of Southampton docks is to make 60 workers compulsorily redundant at the city’s container port terminal.
via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Hampshire | City port axing 60 jobs at dock.
– More than 180 people in north Devon have been told they could lose their jobs at a door manufacturing factory.
via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Devon | Door factory change hits 185 jobs.
– Sacked workers made redundant at failed Ford car parts manufacturer Visteon are vowing to continue a sit-in at the west Belfast factory.
The US owned plant closed yesterday with the loss of more than 200 jobs after administrators were called in.
– More than 300 workers will finish up at Brisbane’s Fisher and Paykel refrigerator factory on Thursday, as the company prepares to shift operations to Thailand.
via Fisher and Paykel workers to be laid off.
– A factory in Lancashire which claims to be the largest CD manufacturing facility in the UK is to close down with the loss of 260 jobs.
via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Lancashire | Jobs cut as CD factory shuts down.
– ts announced 35 jobs will be lost from its Hunter Valley Operations, the Mount Thorley-Warkworth super-pit, and the Bengalla mine.
via Rio announces job cuts in Hunter Valley mines – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
– Swiss airline maintenance firm SR Technics Group said Wednesday it will make 600 workers at its Dublin Airport facility redundant at the end of the week.
via Swiss air maintenance co. cuts 600 jobs in Ireland – Forbes.com.
– BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) – Unemployment in the euro zone jumped more than expected in February to 8.5 percent, data showed on Wednesday, underlining the speed of economic deterioration a day before the ECB meets on interest rates.
via Euro zone Feb unemployment jumps more than expected | Currencies | Reuters .
– KTM Sportmotorcycle AG, an Austrian motorcycle, in which Bajaj Auto holds 31.72 per cent stake, plans to cut down its workforce by almost 50 per cent, reports The Austrian Times.
– Brazilian beef processor Independencia SA [INDALI.UL] is shutting three units and laying off 1,400 workers in response to lower demand for beef and falling prices, the privately-owned company said on Wednesday.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use –
– Q-Edge, an electronics assembly company based in Plainfield, Ind., is planning to bring a significant operation to Alliance Global Logistics Hub in Fort Worth.
via Q-Edge to bring 500 jobs to Fort Worth – Dallas Business Journal: .
– Up to 75 jobs are to be created when a supermarket opens its doors in Oswestry.
via Supermarket Morrisons to create jobs in Oswestry : Shropshire Star: .
– JAY – A grant exceeding $254,000 from the U.S. Department of labor will assist approximately 73 workers affected by layoffs at Wausau Paper.
“Today’s grant will provide affected workers with supportive services, such as career counseling and retraining in new occupational fields that will enhance their eligibility for re-employment,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis in a news release.
via SunJournal.com – Grant will help some laid-off workers.
– GAFFNEY, S.C. — Snak-Time Foods in Gaffney said it will be expanding its Cherokee County operation, adding 40 jobs.
Kara Borie, a representative of the South Carolina Department of Commerce, said that the company is planning to invest $800,000 into its Gaffney facility.
via Cherokee Co. Company Adding 40 Jobs – News Story – WHNS Greenville.
– APX Alarm, one of the nation’s largest residential security alarm companies, announced today that it will be adding more than 200 new permanent positions with a majority based at its corporate headquarters.
via APX Alarm Adding More than 200 Full-Time Jobs.
– The NEA will help deliver about $700 million of investment in National Grid’s electricity transmission system, creating more than 500 jobs in New England over the next five years.
via National Grid Helps Create 500 New Jobs l WPRI.com.
– Local merchandiser MainGate Inc. announced plans this afternoon to expand its west-side headquarters and production operations, which should create 75 jobs by 2013.
IBJ.com – Indianapolis Business Journal – Story Detail.
– Convergys Corp. plans to hire 350 people for its Orlando contact center, which would bring its total workforce locally to about 1,700
Mike: It was a very active day for layoff announcements and economic reports. The economic reports showed both some economic improvement and some decline, but it depends on the report you read. Auto sales were still depressed, but better than expected. Home sales data were a little better in February than January, but still far below that same sales in 2008. While these reports show a decrease in decline, there is little to be cheerful about, yet the market seemed pleased, which is good for those holding market investments. Tomorrow brings the always anticipated Jobless Claims number. Till then……..
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Offic…“, posted with vodpod
Tom Toles - April 1
