Mike: Good day to all. My goal was to put this post Cash-for-Clunkers is Clunker Legislation by a Clunker of a Congress at the top, but my haste prevented that from happening. Take a look at Cash-for-Clunkers is Clunker Legislation by a Clunker of a Congress and be so kind as to offer your opinion of this lousy legislation. Thanks………..
Occasionally I find myself wondering if I’m nuts in thinking that the economy, especially jobs and home sales, is still in the tank and not rebounding as many in the media and government try to spin. I recall when Obama was chastised for giving the public the truth about the dismal shape of the economy and so he changed his tune from dismal to cautiously optimistic.
Many seem to prefer the more optimistic tone of those in powerful positions and it may help some keep their chins up during tough times. I prefer the unvarnished truth about things in order to make the best financial decisions possible. Would I feel more comfortable having a large percentage of my meager retirement funding in the stock market if I was cautiously optimistic? Probably. Would I take most of that money and buy Treasuries or CDs if I thought financial conditions were poor and would likely remain that way for another year or so? Probably. So having the facts instead of the spin helps me make a better financial decision, usually. But with all the positive spin on the economy of late, it’s more difficult to make the correct decision, so I was glad to read the following unvarnished article about recent housing market reports.
However, forget about all the doom and gloom of reality! Enter the Wall Street spinmeisters. Don’t bother them with reality. Here is the fantasy…
Bloomberg writes: “Housing starts jumped 17.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units in May, up from April’s figure of 454,000…”[i]
Marketwatch wrote:“Housing starts bounced back with a vengeance in May, rising 17.2% to a rate of 532,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis”[ii]
No, I am not making that up. I’ve given you the citation and you can read it for yourself. As ridiculously stupid as that is, they really did write “…bounced back with a vengeance…”.
via Worst Housing Number in Decades: What Is the Wall Street Media Smoking? — Seeking Alpha.
See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons – Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com – Email this Cartoon
- Sikorsky cuts (about 350) jobs
- BAE To Follow Lockheed Martin On Job Cuts
- Gannett Could be Ready to Cut 4,500 More Jobs, Blog Reports
- 500 Union Employees at Plain Dealer Agree to Pay Cuts & Furloughs
- Calif unemployment climbs to record 11.5 percent
- SC jobless rate hits record 12.1 percent in May
- Mayville firm extends layoffs for 325 –
- Boeing layoff round: 250 company-wide
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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 –
– Gannett Blog reports that Gannett might be preparing for more across-the-board layoffs.
The blog, which has done a good job predicting previous layoffs, says it receives a comment recently from one its best sources that says:
via Phoenix – Valley Fever – Gannett Could be Ready to Cut 4,500 More Jobs, Blog Reports.
– The Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Minn., reported Wednesday that at least 68 IBM employees were laid off earlier this year from the Rochester facility where IBM i technologies originate.
via Industry Bits.
Mike; While I’m sure there are theives in every state workforce, NY seems to have more than its fair share……….
Four state employees who worked on Long Island were among 30 around New York State who have been charged in the past two weeks with illegally receiving unemployment benefits while on the state payroll, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.
via LI state workers charged with bilking unemployment — Newsday.com.
– The General Motors flameout has been a disaster for blue collar Americans working on assembly lines. Out of 123,000 North American GM workers, 20,000 are scheduled to lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, the Auto Task Force, appointed by President Obama to oversee the process, is led by Wall Street financiers who seems intently focused on a single goal – turning a profit and getting stock prices to rise. It’s an approach that has some people worried.
via Daily Kos: State of the Nation.
– A HOUSEHOLD solar panels credits program will be delayed for at least two months after the Opposition voted to refer the Government’s renewable energy target legislation to a Senate committee.
The delay could mean job cuts in the solar industry after several retailers told The Age this week they could shed hundreds of jobs because of the continuing uncertainty surrounding the legislation.
via Solar firms ready to cut staff.
– California’s unemployment rate climbed to 11.5 percent in May, the highest in modern record-keeping, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.
via Calif unemployment climbs to record 11.5 percent.
– COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s unemployment rate rose to a record 12.1 percent in May with payroll losses soaring in the construction and tourism industries, the Employment Security Commission reported Friday.
Matt Davies
– The city of Stockton is issuing 55 more layoff notices to Stockton Police officers.
via Stockton City To Lay Off 55 More Police Officers – cbs13.com .
– LOCKPORT — Blaming $1.3 million in state funding cuts, Eastern Niagara Hospital disclosed 16 layoffs Wednesday and said that its Founders Health Clinic in Wrights Corners will close as of June 30.
via Hospital lays off 16, closes clinic over state cuts : Niagara County : The Buffalo News.
– Beverly Hills libraries will close early three nights a week, landscaping and tree trimming will be pruned, the number of outdoor summer concerts will be cut and 46 staff positions (most of them vacant) will be eliminated under a $399-million 2009-10 budget approved Tuesday by the City Council.
via Beverly Hills OKs budget with cuts in staff, services – Los Angeles Times.
– COLUMBIA, Tenn. — In Maury County, more than a third of the teachers have become a casualty of the budget crisis.
Thirty-five teachers and their assistants are being laid off.
via 35 Maury Co. Teachers, Assistants Laid Off – Money News Story – WSMV Nashville.
– The Department of Corrections has laid off 32 employees, nine from the Laconia prison; eight from the Northern New Hampshire prison in Berlin; 12 at the men’s prison in Concord; and three at the women’s prison in Goffstown, spokesman Jeff Lyons told The Citizen.
via Fewer Layoffs At NH’s Laconia Prison – wbztv.com .
– In a move that could slow down the handling of foreclosure and criminal cases, the county clerk’s office announced Friday the layoffs of 24 employees.
– NEW PROVIDENCE — Borough officials said they were unwilling to make additional concessions to two labor unions, which will lead to the layoff of two Department of Public Works employees.
via Independent Press – New Providence – NJ.com.
– JEFFERSON CITY | Missouri is cutting five positions for administrative law judges who consider workers’ compensation cases.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
– STRATFORD — Sikorsky Aircraft confirmed Thursday it cut about 2 percent of its global work force in the wake of a slowdown in the commercial market………..
A two percent reduction would equal about 350 jobs.
– Representatives for a German company with ties to the Tri-Cities told 11 Connects its Johnson City plant could be on the chopping block.
The move would leave about 140 people out of work.
via Bosch Could Close Johnson City Plant | TriCities.
– BAE says that the plant employs four hundred workers making the cannon and all of them may not lose their job. There is always the possibility that the company can find other work for them or another contract might be won of some sort.
– Workers have been told 75 of them will be laid off July 15. The remaining 65 will be phased out when the plant closes its doors Sept. 30.
via Archbold workers get news their plant will close – WTOL.com, Toledo’s News Leader, News 11 | .
– The Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities said Thursday that it will lay off 31 more employees, not renew the contract of a manager and not fill five vacant positions.
via MRDD to lay off 31, not fill 6 jobs – Canton, OH – CantonRep.com.
– RBC Bank has eliminated fewer than 20 jobs in an ongoing effort to restructure its struggling business, but the changes aren’t expected to generate “any significant level of job cuts” in the future, according to a top executive with its Canadian corporate parent.
via RBC job cuts to remain modest – Local & State – News & Observer.
– Usnik declined to provide details but said the proposed cuts are smaller than those made in January. He said the privately held auctioneer has 1,900 employees. That’s down 10 percent from January, when the firm disclosed it had 2,100.
via Christie’s Resumes Cutting Jobs After May N.Y. Auctions Decline – Bloomberg.com.
– CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Walker Machinery Co. has laid off 45 workers and its president says more cuts are possible.
via Walker Machinery Cuts 45 Jobs.
– COLONIE — As many as 45 jobs will soon be eliminated at the Times Union, according to the publisher of the newspaper, who said the company must cut its operational costs 20 percent.
via Times Union prepares to cut up to 45 jobs; union prepares to fight.
– Mercy Health Partners has cut 71 positions effectively immediately. The layoffs affect all six hospitals across Northwest Ohio.
via Mercy Health Partners cuts 71 jobs – WTOL.com, Toledo’s News Leader, News 11 | .
– PITTSFIELD — Confronted with a major drop in reimbursements and a decline in patient visits, Berkshire Health Systems on Wednesday told employees it will cut the equivalent of 65 full-time positions.
via Berkshire Health Systems shedding jobs – Berkshire Eagle Online.
– EL RENO, Okla. (AP) – Officials at Redlands Community College in El Reno say 12 employees are being laid off and others will have to take unpaid furloughs.
via Redlands to lay off workers – NewsOn6.com – Tulsa, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports – KOTV.com | .
– Some 132 Jacksonville area-based Wachovia Corp. employees will be laid off between July 27 and Aug. 17 as Wells Fargo continues to absorb Wachovia’s operations, Wells Fargo & Co. announced today.
via Wells Fargo-Wachovia to lay off 132 | Jacksonville.com.
– Konecranes, a commercial crane manufacturer, has felt the pinch of the recession and laid off about 18 employees.
via Kone Cranes lays off workers.
– More than 15 workers based at the Air Pacific and Pacific Sun call centre in Nadi will be will be offered the opportunity to take up a limited number of roles within Air Pacific or be considered to join the independently owned global contact centre specialists, MindPearl.
via FijiVillage.com – Fiji’s home on the world wide web.
-Bath Iron Works is laying off another 41 employees because of an expected work shortage as the shipyard transitions to building the next generation of Navy destroyers.
via BIW lays off another 41 | Mainebiz.
-BILLINGS – A heavy blow was dealt to about 90 Billings workers Wednesday when Sutton’s Sportswear told its employees the business will likely close by the end of the month.
via Sutton’s Warns Employees | KULR-8 TELEVISION – Billings, Montana | Local Top Stories .
– The Plain Dealer, where nearly 450 non-union employees saw pay reductions of 12 percent just a few months ago. Now, about 500 union employees have agreed to pay cuts and furloughs in a desperate attempt to keep the paper afloat.
via 500 Union Employees at Plain Dealer Agree to Pay Cuts & Furloughs | Cleveland Leader.
– In another example of widespread cuts in academic library budgets, Stanford University Libraries (SUL), CA, has announced staff, service, and materials cutbacks in order to meet a 2010 budget reduction of 15 percent mandated by the university.
– Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing said in a press release that it reduced its workforce in Woodside Industrial Park by 15 percent, but a spokeswoman said she did not know how many people worked at the plant or how many were let go.
In March, a spokesman said the plant employed 832, meaning a 15 percent cut would equal roughly 125 employees.
via Toyota forklift plant cuts more than 100 jobs.
– Oilfield services giant Schlumberger has swung the axe once again, lopping heads off across the Houston area in another round of job layoffs resulting in the elimination of around 100 positions.
via Schlumberger axes jobs once again – Upstreamonline.
-On July 1, Gleaves said three to six of Kingwood’s 30 employees will be laid off. He said the main house will only be open to the public on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. The outside property will remain open on week days.
– The Art Institute of Chicago has laid off 22 employees, or 3 percent of its staff, as part of a larger series of cost-cutting measures.
via Art Institute lays off 3% of staff — chicagotribune.com.
– MAYVILLE, Wis. – Metalcraft of Mayville has notified the state that it plans to extend layoffs for 325 employees in Wisconsin.
In a letter to the Department of Workforce Development, Metalcraft says layoffs it made in April will exceed six months, as it initially planned.
via Mayville firm extends layoffs for 325 — chicagotribune.com.
– Boeing plans to issue 250 layoff notices today to employees who are at risk of being laid off as of August 21.
Of the layoffs, 140 are at Boeing Commercial Airplanes and 150 are in the Puget Sound area. There is some overlap between the Puget Sound layoffs and the Commercial Airplanes division layoffs.
via Boeing layoff round: 250 company-wide, 150 in Puget Sound.
-West Corp. plans to lay off 160 employees from its Bryan call center by the end of August, company officials said Thursday.
The cuts are planned because the the Omaha-based company lost its American Express account, officials said.
via West plans 160 layoffs | Bryan/College Station, Texas – The Eagle.
– Firestone Polymers in Orange will lay off at least 25 workers by next Friday, a union spokesman said today.
via Firestone Polymers announces layoffs >> www.beaumontenterprise.com – Local.
– Administrators said Thursday that they are consolidating and have made a few layoffs, but they are not closing.
via Layoffs at Valley Diagnostic : News : KGBT 4 .
– Capital One Healthcare Finance told the state it will close its Staples Drive offices and lay off employees while eliminating 164 jobs.
– TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — – Nearly 15 percent of employees at the Hallmark Cards Inc. plant in Topeka have accepted a buyout deal offered by the company.
via 96 Workers at Topeka Hallmark Take Buyouts – WDAF.
– CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — Another Kanawha Valley business is laying off workers.
A representative with West Virginia Steel told WSAZ.com Friday the company let around 35 employees go recently.
-Air France-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline, may need to cut a further 3,000 jobs but only through natural attrition, its chief executive said on Friday.
– Nearly 650 workers constructing a new plant at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire have been sacked, following unofficial strike action.
via BBC NEWS | UK | England | Humber | Total sacks 650 oil plant workers.
– AT least 30 jobs are set to go from the Kooragang and Carrington coal terminals operated by Port Waratah Coal Services.
via Coal terminal redundancies at Kooragang and Carrington – Local News – News – General – The Herald .
– GREAT Yarmouth is to make all 11 of its remaining permanent dockworkers redundant, with operator International Port Holdings set to switch to the use of casual labour, according to the Unite trade union.
via Great Yarmouth to make permanent dockworkers redundant – Lloydslist.com .
-Arjowiggins Fine Paper’s Stoneywood mill in Aberdeen has made 48 staff redundant following a consultation period with staff and trade unions.
– The move is likely to result in 18 redundancies and short-time working for all employees for the next nine months.
via More jobs to go at Lambda Ilfracombe ¦ This is North Devon | South West Business.
– The television, radio and online monitoring company Media Monitors has announced plans to sack 103 staff from its offices across the country.
via Media Monitors axes 103 jobs – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).
– MANILA (AFP) — Canadian electronics firm Celestica Inc. is shutting down its factory in the central Philippines, with the loss of about 1,000 jobs, the government said Friday.
– In a second round of Dubai layoffs since April, DLA Piper is eliminating another 22 positions in its Middle East offices.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use–
– Geoffrey Abraham, an advertising copywriter in Portland, Ore., thinks Facebook is no place to hang up your shingle. On his blog http://www.looklefty.blogspot.com, his rant-filled post “Let’s Keep Facebook Fun, People” takes to task people who complain about their unemployed status on the social networking site.
“I understand that what I am witnessing is a sign of the times. In real time. I can even imagine these downtrodden folks thinking, ‘Hey, I have a lot of friends in here. Maybe one of them can get me a job,'” he wrote. “But nothing is less attractive than desperation.”
via The Associated Press: Layoffs and networking: To tweet or not to tweet?.
– JACKSONVILLE, FL — Volkswagen is opening a industrial facility in Jacksonville, bringing dozens of jobs and $30 million to the local economy.
The 260,000 square foot facility opening in Arlington will be a parts distribution center that will service 115 Volkswagen and Audi dealers throughout the Southeast.
The new center will employ 40 people, and represents a $30 million investment by the car
via Volkswagen Opens Green Facility, Brings Jobs to Jacksonville | Firstcoastnews.com | Local News.
– “Finding” No. 1: Laid-off men do neither more child care nor more housework than they did before they lost their jobs. I don’t know from child care, but I do know from housework. And I haven’t unloaded the dishwasher or done a load of laundry since Marco got canned.
via Findings From the Layoff Lab | Green Business | Reuters .
Mike: It might be time for that fake social networking site that shows only your good side. Never reveal more online than you want to reveal to the boss of your job.
– Analysis: Applicants for jobs with the City of Bozeman, Montana, are expected to provide information about any social networking sites they’re a part of, complete with passwords.
via Reveal Your Facebook Password, Get a Job – PC World.
– Premium executives said the plant, which will import cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast, will initially employ between 350 and 500 workers. Further expansion into cocoa byproduct processing and coffee processing will push the employment figure above 1,000 newly created jobs by 2013.
via The Herald Banner, Greenville, TX – Cocoa processing plant to bring up to 1,000 jobs to Commerce.
– DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. says it will recall 900 workers at a factory near Lansing, Mich., because of increased demand for the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia crossover vehicles.
Mike: Have a great weekend. I’ll update this post with any news of value…………………………..
Jeff Stahler
Tags: COBRA, cut jobs, economic, employment, factory closing, firing, hiring, IBM, job loss, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, plant closing, positions eliminated, redundancies, staff cuts, unemployment, workforce reduction
