Mike: If any of you are having trouble reading my postings, please drop me a note at mike@layofflist.org. There seems to be a problem with IE7 and older IE presenting this site without scroll bars. I’ve used IE8 and it’s worked well so far without the annoying problems that IE7 had initially. I also don’t see any problems reading posts with Firefox or Chrome. I just may start over and grab a new template that won’t have these issues. Thanks for your patience while I try to fix things.

Mike: Today we have a couple of consumer related economic reports; one related to income and spending (Personal Income and Outlays) and the other related to the consumer’s mood Consumer Sentiment . It appears that we as consumers are saving more, paying down debt and are in a little better mood.


Mike: Both major political parties have their offensive platforms, but in this case, it looks like I have to pick on Republicans for their inability to see beyond their next election campaign contribution, since it’s been Republicans that have stopped extended unemployment benefits in Michigan, and the same holds true for Texas.

This is a matter of states extending federal stimulus funds to a wider range of unemployed or underemployed. I find it interesting, and disturbing as well, to hear that Republicans in these state houses won’t extend unemployment to part-timers or other groups because it may put a burden on businesses at some point in the future. When these same politicians give businesses huge tax incentives and property tax breaks for the promise of new jobs – but the companies don’t create them – they don’t demand the businesses pay back those taxpayer gifts. These same politicians don’t have a problem dishing out millions in dollars of farm subsidies to major corporations like ADM, which profits mightily from those subsidies. These politicians don’t have a problem giving businesses tax breaks that encourage off-shoring of jobs. These same politicians don’t have a problem giving pharmaceuticals billions in taxpayer money by limiting competition – by not allowing the federal government to bid on drugs – in the federal prescription drug coverage.  Yet these same politicians have a problem giving the taxpayer who can only find part-time work due to a layoff a few dollars in unemployment benefits. This breed of politician has a tendency to stand up to the poor and bow to the rich, which benefits the politician not his constituents.

– Senate republicans blocked the bill. They say, once the stimulus dollars run out, businesses will be forced to pay a lot more into the state’s unemployment fund. As lawmakers try to decide whether part-time workers should receive unemployment, Sheffield says she’ll do what she can to land a job.

via State Senate Votes Down Extended Unemployment – WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather – WLNS.COM | .

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Steve Sack

Steve Sack

Mike: Props to the fine bloggers at http://www.the405club.com/ for making it into The Huffington Post. I placed a link to  http://www.the405club.com/in the side bar when I first started The Layoff List and I urge you to pay them a visit for some up-to-date commentary, tips and laughs:

Fortunate for Raiffa, she has substantial savings and can bide her time looking for future employment. So, she bird-sits for $25 an hour. She gets cash to collect signatures for politicians petitioning for this fall’s election, and she writes a blog for the 405 Club — an unemployment network whose namesake is a tribute to the state’s weekly stipends. Raiffa has even gotten paid to go to the movies and check out the upcoming trailers.

via Unemployment Benefits: New Yorkers Discuss What It’s Like To Live On $430 A Week.

Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:

US/Canada:
International:
Navigation links to today’s stories:

Microsoft/Google/IBM and other Rumors & News


Bruce Beattie

Bruce Beattie



– Two job sites that match employers with temporary IT workers are on the rise: Elance and oDesk Corp. These two companies report sharp increases in the number of employers hiring temporary workers. Elance is averaging 25,000 job postings a month from employers, up almost 50 percent from this time last year. oDesk says it has seen job postings increase by 100 percent over the past year to about 17,500 jobs.

General Economic News



The 0.3 percent gain in purchases followed no change in April, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Incomes surged 1.4 percent, reflecting tax cuts and Social Security payments from the Obama administration’s stimulus and driving up the savings rate to a 15-year high.

via U.S. Consumer Spending Rose, Incomes Gained in May (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in June, but remained at relatively low levels, according to media reports of a survey released Friday by the University of Michigan and Reuters. The consumer sentiment index rose to 70.8 from 68.7 in May. In mid-June the estimate was 69. Economists were looking for a final June result of 69.

via Consumer sentiment rises to 70.8 in June – MarketWatch.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
-June 26 (Bloomberg) — China’s central bank renewed its call for a global currency and said the International Monetary Fund should manage part of its members’ foreign-exchange reserves, triggering a decline in the U.S. dollar.

“To prevent the deficiencies in the main reserve currency, there’s a need to create a new currency that’s delinked from the economies of the issuers,” the People’s Bank of China said in a review of the economy in 2008 released today.

via China Reiterates Call for New World Reserve Currency (Update2) – Bloomberg.com.


Mike: Now the Chinese even think that Hummers are environmentally offensive and that could prove to be the unraveling of GM’s Chinese deal.

gm21– China’s planning agency is likely to reject a Chinese company’s bid to acquire General Motors Corp.’s Hummer unit, in part because its gas-guzzling vehicles conflict with Beijing’s conservation goals, state radio reported………

The Chinese government is trying to promote conservation and the use of more fuel-efficient vehicles. It has cut sales taxes on cars with smaller engines and is encouraging automakers to develop electric and other alternative-energy vehicles.

via China likely to reject Hummer acquisition: report .



Government Layoff News



-Detroit — Detroit Public Schools’ financial manager announced Thursday that the district is projecting enrollment will drop to under 84,000 students and it is cutting more than 1,700 employees — nearly 13 percent of the work force — to reduce the school system’s massive multiyear deficit.


– Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon cut $105 million and 200 state jobs from Missouri’s 2010 budget.


– With some hard decisions before them, the Eureka City Schools Board of Education unanimously approved the 2009/10 budget Wednesday night and approved layoffs for more than 35 support staff positions.

via ECS unanimously approves budget, layoffs – Times-Standard Online .


— The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the proposed 2009/10 budget Tuesday after moving to lay off 12 positions in the Health and Human Services Department.

via 12 layoffs in county HHS; budget adopted – Ukiah Daily Journal .


– Miller says a final decision on layoff numbers will be made next week. He says the lean budget will also force the authority to delay some maintenance and construction projects.

via 89.3 WFPL | Layoffs Forthcoming At Airport Authority.


-Iowa’s court system will eliminate or hold vacant about 50 jobs, officials said Thursday.

via Courts announce job cuts | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs.


– In the past six months, the Douglas administration has eliminated 58, or nearly 10 percent, of the positions in the agency charged with protecting Vermont’s environment.

via Vermont cuts 10 percent of ANR positions | burlingtonfreepress.com | The Burlington Free Press.


– Homeowners in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district will keep their special tax break, and about 75 employees will lose their jobs, the school board decided Thursday.

via Cy-Fair ISD keeps tax break, but cuts jobs | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.


– Declining property tax revenues and other sluggish economic indicators factored heavily in the “zero-growth” budget adopted today by Clackamas County’s commissioners.

via Clackamas County trims spending, cuts 85 jobs – OregonLive.com.


– Burlington, NC — As many as 145 additional jobs could be cut from the Alamance-Burlington School System.


Mike: Living in NY, I see in action the daily circus, which is called the state senate. NY’s legislature was considered the most dysfunctional in the nation BEFORE this latest bizarre episode of legislative mismanagement. From these elected clowns we NYers not only get to see a political soap opera, but we also get a $13.7 billion 2009 – 2010 budget deficit! Talk about getting your money’s worth………….

– This feckless bunch in Albany, a k a your state senators, can’t even scuffle properly. Just when you thought they couldn’t embarrass themselves any further, they reduced themselves this week to “my gavel is bigger than yours” gamesmanship and to nyah-nyah name-calling.

Walt Handelsman

Walt Handelsman


– The Clerk of the Court budget will be reduced by $800,000 for the next budget cycle, which takes effect July 1. Strickland said closing the annexes is mandated because of the reduction. Six employees will be laid off when the annexes close, but Strickland said the annexes may reopen when the economy turns around.

via The Ponte Vedra Recorder: Ponte Vedra Community News | Clerk of the Court annex to close .12:43:18


– MANSFIELD — Twenty more Mansfield firefighters will be laid off and the Sunset Boulevard fire station closed to cut costs, according to the firefighters union president.

via Mansfield laying off 20 firefighters, closing Station 3 | mansfieldnewsjournal.com | Mansfield News Journal.


-Chemeketa Community College Board of Education passed the school’s 2009-10 budget — which includes 12 layoffs and the closing of Santiam Center.



US and some Canada Layoff News



KBMT has learned the Sitel Call Center on Hwy 365 in Port Arthur is laying off 409 employees by August 29 and will close the Port Arthur facility.

via Sitel to Close Port Arthur Call Center; 409 Workers Laid Off | KBMT ABC 12 – News, Weather and Sports – Beaumont – Port Arthur, TX Beaumont – Port Arthur, Texas | Local News Top Stories .



university-of-nevada-renoRENO, Nev.—The University of Nevada, Reno is eliminating 279 jobs because of a 15 percent budget cut that slashed the university’s state funding by $33 million in the next two fiscal years.

via UNR eliminates 279 jobs – San Jose Mercury News .


ethan-allen1– COLEBROOK, N.H. — Ethan Allen Furniture will lay off up to 260 people at its furniture assembly plant in Beecher Falls, Vt.

via Ethan Allen Will Lay Off 260 At Vermont Plant – New Hampshire News Story – WMUR Manchester.


– Although Gander-based Heli-One, a subsidiary of CHC Helicopter Corp., had brokered a deal to share jobs in order to avoid layoffs, it told employees on Wednesday afternoon that it must drop 120 employees.


– EDGEWATER — Coronado Paint Co. here is being closed by owner Benjamin Moore & Co. on or about the end of the year, leaving about 100 workers without jobs.


– HOLLAND, Mich. (WZZM) – The economy has forced a Holland furniture company to layoff some of its employees today. 32 people lost their jobs at Trendway.

via Holland company lays off 32 workers | wzzm13.com | Grand Rapids, MI .


– Gardner Denver has informed the sate of Wisconsin that the eventual closing of its Sheboygan plant will result in the loss of 36 more jobs by Sept. 5 for a total of 58 layoffs so far.

via Sheboygan plant closing will cost at least 58 jobs – The Business Journal of Milwaukee: .


– After announcing its departure from the Occupant Protection Systems (OPS) business in May, last week Delphi advised city officials that it will be closing its Electronics and Safety OPS operation in Vandalia. With the closure comes 116 layoffs, which are slated to begin in August and conclude by the end of December.

via Delphi closing Occupant Protection Systems in Vandalia .


adm– GLASSBORO Archer Daniels Midland has announced that it will close its Glassboro cocoa processing plant by the end of October, affecting 53 plant employees.


– The Dayton Art Institute has laid off five employees in an effort to weather the economic storm.

via Dayton Art Institute lays off five workers – Triangle Business Journal: .


– VERGENNES — Although Goodrich Corp. in May laid off 11 non-technical workers from its Vergennes plant, a move a corporate executive called painful, the overall news for the largest employer in Vergennes and its parent company appears far from bleak.

via Despite modest layoff, Goodrich solid | Addison County Independent.


– Emerson Power Transmission, formerly McGill Manufacturing Co., notified the employees June 19 and the layoffs are effective Friday, according to Emily Acquisto, a spokeswoman for Emerson. The facility operates under a division of St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co.

via Emerson to lay off 35 from Valpo facility / nwi.com.


– The spokesman, Fred Solomon, declined to elaborate, saying PNC will not break out staff reductions by geographic location or business unit, other than whatever the company discloses in quarterly regulatory reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

via PNC to keep mortgage operation in Miami Twp., but job cuts likely.


blue-cross-blue-shield1– The company said Thursday the 151 job cuts would be mostly in the Birmingham area where most of its 3,800 statewide employees work.


– More than 100 Eagle stitchers were laid off Thursday afternoon as part of a phased shutdown of the South End military bag factory.

via Eagle lays off first wave of workers | SouthCoastToday.com.


– CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington University will eliminate 119 jobs to cover a $26 million budget reduction over the next two years.

via Local News | Eastern to slash 119 jobs, raise tuition | Seattle Times Newspaper.


3m– The 3M Co. cut 40 jobs in its engineering division Thursday, part of continued cost-cutting moves by the Maplewood-based manufacturer as it copes with the recession.

via 3M announces 40 job cuts, plant closing – TwinCities.com .


– Kennametal laid off 26 employees Thursday in an effort to “right size” the facility before its sale to a Chinese drill bit company.

via Biz bits 062609 – The Augusta Chronicle.


– Nearly 90 workers laid off earlier this year at PTC Alliance steel tubing plants in West Mayfield and Darlington Township will remain off the job indefinitely, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

via Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times Online – News.


– SCHENECTADY — MVP Health Care is handing the management of its behavioral health services to a company in Troy, a move that will result in as many as 13 layoffs.

via MVP move brings layoffs — Page 1 — Times Union – Albany NY:836:.


– Photobucket, which FIM bought for about $250 million in early 2007, was the hardest hit, losing roughly one-third of its 120-person staff.

via More Layoffs At FIM; Includes One-Third Of Photobucket Staff | paidContent .


-The Holiday Village of Sandpiper in Port St. Lucie has notified the state it plans to lay off 161 employees, effective Aug. 24.

via Port St. Lucie Club Med to lay off 161 – South Florida Business Journal:


-Rochester-based military radio manufacturer Harris RF Communications has let go of 77 workers as part of previously announced cost-cutting steps.

via Business briefs | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle.12:33:43


– The company is cutting a total of 21 jobs permanently in three locations: the Ottawa-area community of Arnprior, Ont., Halifax and Dover, Tenn. In addition the company has temporarily laid off 10 manufacturing employees for up to 30 days while Pacific Safety changes over its product line.

via Chronicle Journal – Stories – .12:43:11


– TAMPA — Twenty more people joined Tampa’s rising unemployment pool as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center announced layoffs today in response to declining ticket sales, donations and endowment dollars.

via Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center cuts its 140-person staff by 20 to reduce costs as revenue drops – St. Petersburg Times.12:47:06


– Kellogg Co. has eliminated some positions in research and development as part of its plan to save $1 billion over three years.

via Kellogg eliminates R&D jobs | battlecreekenquirer.com | The Enquirer.12:51:13


– Andrews McMeel Universal eliminated nine positions on Tuesday — five in its Uclick unit and four in its syndication unit.



International Layoff News



-New Employment Act, which comes to force from July 1, may leave 25,000 people unemployed, Harry Taliga, the head of Central Union of Trade Unions told Delfi.


-France Telecom?s UK carrier Orange, the country?s third largest, is cutting 370 jobs, the FT.com reports. A hundred of the lay offs will come in the next three months, while the remaining 270 jobs will be cut by not filling positions.


-Nortel’s UK administrators Ernst & Young have confirmed a second round of redundancies at the company after over 200 were ousted in March.

Administrators revealed that 150 positions have now been put at risk at the company this week.

via Nortel makes 150 more UK job cuts.


– Fletcher said today its Laminex subsidiary was closing its medium density fibreboard (MDF) plant in Welshpool, Perth which employs 114 people.


– The LSE has started consultations with staff and is likely to reach a conclusion in three to six weeks, a person familiar with the matter said. Another source said the move could cost 120 jobs in Britain and Italy.

via London Stock Exchange to cut about 10% jobs-sources | Industries | Financial Services & Real Estate | Reuters .


– The closure had been signalled earlier this month, with the loss of 41 jobs expected.

via Closure of Fletcher’s Kumeu plant confirmed – 41 jobs to go – Business – NZ Herald News.


– Ten full-time journalists are set to lose their jobs following a decision to close down Ireland’s only Irish-language newspaper.

via 10 staff to lose job as Foinse goes out of business – Business, Ireland – Belfasttelegraph.co.uk.


– Towry Law has cut up to a tenth of its workforce as it outsources investment administration to SEI and seeks other back office efficiencies.

via Towry Law cuts 70 jobs as it moves onto SEI platform | New Model Adviser ® | Citywire .12:35:39


– India’s Tata Motors on Friday warned more jobs could go at its luxury British marques Jaguar and Land Rover because of the global economic downturn, as it posted its first loss in eight years.

via AFP: Tata Motors says more Jaguar, Land Rover job cuts possible.12:44:41


– ADELAIDE-BASED submarine builder ASC has shed more than 80 permanent staff and contractors in a major restructuring aimed at boosting the efficiency of its submarine maintenance business.

via Submarine builder trims 80 staff | The Australian.12:47:50


– hirty-five more Hamilton jobs have been lost as the recession forces city businesses into restructuring or liquidation.

via Crunch costs 35 more city jobs | Stuff.co.nz.16:16:15


– BT has laid off 20 Dabs.com staff at the e-tailer’s Bolton warehouse.

via BT axes 20 jobs at Dabs.com • Channel Re16:16:51


– All 109 of St. Petersburg’s casinos will be closed starting July 1 as a ban on gambling comes into force, leaving over 10,000 employees without work.



Hiring News and News You Can Use



– – Lowe’s will open one of its home improvement stores in south Durham by early August, adding 175 jobs to the area.

via Lowe’s to open new Durham store; add 175 jobs – Triangle Business Journal: .


– -(BUSINESS WIRE)–The General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) today announced that it will open an advanced manufacturing technology and software center in Michigan. The center is expected to grow to more than 1,100 GE employees over the next few years.

via GE To Open Advanced Manufacturing Technology & Software Center in Michigan.


– Are you the type of person who would like to work at home? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? Do you want to start your own business but aren’t sure that you can succeed? If you answered, “yes” then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll provide you with some tips to make your home business a success. Are you ready? Let’s begin.


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Mike: Have a great weekend. I’ll update this post as needed throughout the weekend…………………


Mike Luckovich

Mike Luckovich



Mike: Do you have any favorite songs related to unemployment? I especially enjoyed Macka B – Unemployment Blues.

Even for those of us in gainful work, the spectre of unemployment and its consequences is hard to ignore. And on the blog this past weekend, work problems and uncertainties were shared among the musical tips. This week’s playlist hardly offers much in the way of lyrical consolation; I hope, however, there’s some in the quality of the music.

via Readers recommend: Songs about unemployment | Music | The Guardian .

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