Mike: Good day to all. Today we have the results of the latest MBA Purchase Applications and they show some improvement from the previous week’s abysmal numbers. I merely take a look at the numbers below and while refinancing showed a 15.2% improvement from the previous week, that is still about 15% lower than two weeks ago. The four-week moving average is likely to be a better indicator of this report’s trend and that isn’t showing a housing turn-around.
The group’s seasonally adjusted refinancing index rose 15.2 percent last week to 1,707.7, after a 30 percent plunge in the prior week.
Purchase applications, which lagged refinancing demand all through the spring home sales season, rose 6.7 percent last week to 285.6.
On a four-week moving average, which smooths out volatility, the purchase index rose 1.4 percent and the refinance index fell 10.9 percent.
via U.S. mortgage applications climb from 7-month low | Reuters .
And those housing numbers aren’t likely to improve much if this is the trend in employment:
WASHINGTON – Job openings in the United States remained at a record low level in May, indicating that while employers have slowed the pace of layoffs they are still hesitant to add staff.
Openings, or the number of jobs available as a percentage of total employment, remained at 1.9 percent, Labor Department data showed yesterday in Washington. The reading matches that of March and April as the lowest since record-keeping began more than eight years ago.
via Job openings in US remain at record low – The Boston Globe.
Gary Markstein
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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 –
– INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s privately run welfare project has so many problems that the state could start taking steps to cancel its $1.16 billion contract with IBM as early as this fall, a state official said Tuesday.
Secretary Anne Murphy of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said she asked lead vendor IBM Corp. to submit a “corrective action plan” as part of a process that could result in canceling the 10-year deal if promised improvements don’t occur by the end of September. She said she expects to review data from the changes in mid-October.
via The Associated Press: AP Exclusive: IBM on notice over Ind. welfare deal.
MBA Purchase Applications
![[Report]](http://bloomberg.econoday.com/images/bloomberg/byreport_butt_new.gif)
7:00 AM ET
– CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The volume of mortgage applications filed last week rose a seasonally adjusted 10.9% from the week before, reflecting an uptick in refinancings, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
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Mike: Even our Asian friends that were expecting green shoots are disappointed with the crop so far.
– “We haven’t seen clear evidence of the green shoots,” said Sukumar Rajah, chief investment officer at Franklin Templeton Asset Management India Pvt., who oversees $4 billion in equities. “It won’t be easy for the economies of the world to grow at the same rate” before the recession began, he said.
Declining exports resulted in companies cutting 500,000 jobs in 10 industries as the worst recession since the Great Depression forces manufacturers to reduce production, Sharma said, citing a labor bureau survey conducted for the October- December quarter.
via Indian Stocks Tumble as June Exports Slide, Job Losses Mount – Bloomberg.com.
John Deering
– Gov. Pat Quinn today began the process of cutting 2,600 jobs while sending a portion of the budget back to lawmakers with recommendations on how to cut $1 billion to help balance it.
Quinn could have made some of the cuts himself but instead chose to veto a budget bill and leave it to lawmakers.
via Governor orders layoffs – Rockford, IL – Rockford Register Star.
– More layoff notices are on the way for teachers in Grand Rapids. A total of 155 teachers in the district will get the notices. And district leaders say they’re still not sure what the final number of layoffs will be.
via MICHIGAN: More Teacher Layoffs in Grand Rapids (2009-07-07) .
– Four Lee County emergency operations workers lost their jobs this week because of the downturn in the economy and the department’s decision to outsource medical supplies.
via 4 Lee County emergency operations workers laid off | news-press.com | The News-Press.
– The Human Resources De partment, Building and Plant/Purchasing Department, and Clerk and Recorder’s Office each lost one employee. Those employees will receive a month of paid leave.
via The Steamboat Pilot & Today: County lays off three employees.
– The Boston Redevelopment Authority has laid off two dozen of its employees to help fill a $4 million budget shortfall.
via City agency cuts 24 amid $4M budget gap – BostonHerald.com.
– Sheriff Harum says a budget cut of $250 thousand dollars ordered by commissioners will mean two vacant deputy positions will remain unfilled and one patrol deputy will be laid off immediately.
via KPQ -Wenatchee – Sheriff makes staff cuts.
– MISHAWAKA — The city announced Tuesday it will eliminate 35 positions — 10 vacant positions will not be refilled and 25 employees will lose their jobs.
via South Bend Tribune: City of Mishawaka to cut 35 jobs, relocate departments.12:37:18
– The money means 560 inmates will not be given early releases and 45 detention deputies, instead of 93, got lay off notices.
via Unexpected windfall averts some sheriff’s layoffs; 45 to lose jobs | Bakersfield Now | News .16:31:59
– Several City of Rowlett employees will be laid off on Monday.
via Star Community Newspapers.16:37:56
– As the Lakewood transitions to an automated trash collection system, six city positions have been eliminated and following a union vote last week, six workers have lost their jobs.
via Six Lakewood workers laid off following rejected city proposal to union – Lakewood Sun Post – Cleveland.com.16:38:25
– Seventy-six employees of the Board of County Commissioners – including six department heads – are slated to lose their jobs as part of a massive cost-cutting maneuver by county administration.
via Polk County Democrat > News > Local > Polk to Pink-Slip 76 Employees.16:40:04
– Developmental Services Center, which serves children and adults with developmental disabilities, cut 18 jobs Monday and has started cutting services to make up about half of the $1.8 million it’s losing in state grant money.
via The News-Gazette.com: Champaign social-service agencies begin cutting staffs.16:41:30
– Director of human resources at the council Anne Burton announced potential pay cuts – likely to affect blue-collar workers – at a personnel committee meeting last Thursday.
It is understood this will involve 113 workers.
via 113 Reading Borough Council staff face pay cut – News – getreading – Reading Post.16:42:23
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
– Honeywell Inc., has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) statement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, announcing that it intends to layoff 148 employees within the next 60 days at two Freeport locations.
– CINCINNATI — Comair employees learned Monday that Delta’s planned cuts for September may mean considerable cuts for Comair as well.
Comair president John Bendoraitis told employees that “additional furloughs among our crews will be unavoidable.”
via Comair Facing Job Losses After Delta Cuts This Fall – Money News Story – WLWT Cincinnati.
– The companies regional terminal manager was there to deliver some bad news. The drivers were told that they were laid off from work indefinitely, also the mechanic and the Maysville, KY. terminal manager were also given layoffs as well.
via Local Truck Drivers for Trucking Company given layoff and terminal will be closed in Maysville KY..
– Motorola (MOT) is cutting 74 positions workers in hits mobile phone division at a facility in Libertyville, Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune. The cuts were disclosed in a state regulatory filing.
via Tech Trader Daily – Barron’s Online : Motorola Cuts 74 Jobs In Mobile Phone Unit.
– PITTSBURGH – The company that runs Pittsburgh’s public television station has laid off nine employees and says more cuts could be coming because of the poor economy and other budget factors.
via Pittsburgh’s public TV station lays off 9 workers | AP | 07/08/2009.
– Newschannel 3 has learned that Parker Aerospace Hydraulic Systems in Kalamazoo has laid off 50 people.
via 50 laid-off in Kalamazoo | kalamazoo, laid, aircraft – Top Stories – WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3.
– LCN Closers, one of Princeton’s major industrial employers, announced Tuesday it will lay off 44 employees.
via News Tribune – Business – Business Daily.
– BROOKLIN (NEWS CENTER) — A builder of high-end boats Downeast has had to lay off some employees because it doesn’t have enough orders.
via WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | Boat Builder Lays Off Ten.
– Harland Clarke, a San Antonio-based check products and marketing company for the financial services industry, laid off employees in recent weeks because of the recession.
via Harland Clarke lays off employees.
– The new owners of the Ilikai hotel said they plan to shutdown hotel operations on Thursday, resulting in the layoff of at least 65 workers.
– A new product at the Cardinal Glass Northfield plant means production employees will have to reapply for their jobs to avoid 27 layoffs.
NORTHFIELD — More than two dozen employees will be laid off from a local manufacturing plant this summer, a Cardinal Glass official said Tuesday afternoon.
via Cardinal Glass will cut almost 30 jobs on Northfield News.
-A spokesman said no employees in the North Texas area will be impacted by the closing of the French facility, but all 350 plant employees in France will lose their positions as operations are cut.
via Celanese to close subsidiary, cut 350 jobs – Dallas Business Journal: .12:38:23
– MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Colonial Bank has announced it cut 136 jobs across five states this week, including about 30 positions at Montgomery and south Alabama locations.
via WZTV FOX 17/Nashville.12:38:27
– NEW YORK The Times Union of Albany, N.Y., will layoff 15 full-time and three part-time employees, including its business editor, sports editor and reader representative, the paper announced Wednesday.
via ‘Times Union’ Lays Off 15, Including Some Editors .12:39:18
– Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) has cut 50 jobs at its Maynard facility, part of a layoff that eliminated 160 positions globally, the company reported today. At the same time, Monster will open a new research and development facility in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, and is already recruiting for 80 new technical positions to staff the new center — which can accommodate as many as 170 employees, the company said.
via Monster cuts 160, creates 80 jobs in Cambridge – Mass High Tech Business News.16:30:21
– According to ATL, the DLA Piper on Wednesday laid off 121 people — 21 lawyers and 100 staffers. The news bring the total number of layoffs at DLA to 440 in the U.S. and U.K.
via Law Firm Layoff Wednesday: Paying the (DLA) Piper Again – Law Blog – WSJ.16:35:30
– VALLEY CITY, N.D. — A company that provides consulting and support for management software has laid off 15 employees in Valley City and five in Pierre, S.D.
via Software company laying off 15 in Valley City | Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, North Dakota .16:36:53
– Several Twitter messages and e-mails from Enquirer staffers confirmed that the publication’s staff was laid off Wednesday afternoon. Calls to CinWeekly’s staff members were not answered.
-ANZ Bank has axed a further 248 jobs across the country as part of its strategy to slash the size of its Australian workforce.
– TV rental company Marton Dawes Ltd has gone into administration, making 89 redundancies.
via Redundancies at Martin Dawes as pre-pack administration takes place (From This Is Cheshire).
– A former Nakheel employee said the number of redundancies is nearing the 1000 mark, but Nakheel has rubbished the claims.
via Nakheel confirms redundancies | Business | Construction News | ConstructionWeekOnline.com.
– Bosses say 21 staff members have been put at risk of redundancy as they look to reduce the college’s ‘staffing base’ by nine posts due to changes made to the curriculum and a reduction in student funding in some areas.
via West Notts redundancies ‘not linked to project collapse’ – Mansfield Chad .
– In a statement issued in the last hour, TFL Acting CEO Sakeasi Seru said the restructuring exercise identified a total of 177 positions to be made redundant, following which the company held open dialogue sessions with its staff nationwide.
via FijiVillage.com – Fiji’s home on the world wide web.
– July 8 (Bloomberg) — Baker & McKenzie LLP, the world’s second-largest law firm by revenue, plans to eliminate 11 percent of its lawyers and professional staff in China because of the “very challenging” economic climate.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use–
– Fifty-four percent of employed Americans plan to look for a new job once the economy rebounds, according to a survey from Adecco Group North America.
The sentiment is even stronger among younger workers. Of those ages 18-29, 71% say they are likely to look for new jobs once the economy turns around, the survey said.
via Job satisfaction at a low point for layoff survivors – Yahoo! Finance.
Mike: Another rather quiet day for larger layoff announcements and hopefully that trend continues tomorrow. Thursday brings the Jobless Claims report. Till then………………
Scott Stantis
