The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since January, depressed by shifts in the timing of auto plant shutdowns.
Initial jobless claims dropped by 47,000 to 522,000, lower than forecast, in the week ended July 11, from a revised 569,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people collecting unemployment insurance plunged by a record 642,000, also reflecting seasonal issues surrounding the closures at carmakers.
via U.S. Jobless Claims Slump, Reflecting Timing of Auto Layoffs – Bloomberg.com.
– NOTE: The seasonally adjusted weekly claims numbers are being impacted by the layoffs in the automobile industry and other manufacturing sectors. Usually companies cut back production in the summer, and the numbers are adjusted for that pattern – but this year the companies cut back much earlier. This distortion is expected to last for another week or two.
Mike: I have written about how Gov. Rick Perry of Texas was grandstanding when he refused to take $555 million in federal stimulus funds aimed at expanding unemployment benefits for his citizens. As you can see form the articles below, refusing those stimulus funds is only part of the problem that he and his underlings are facing for their needless refusal and delay to take federal funds. The agency assigned to disperse unemployment benefits goes on to blame federal rules, but those same federal rules didn’t cause problems for the other 49 states. Tens of thousands of unemployed will pay the price of Perry’s grandstanding and Texas’ inability to come to grips with a worsening unemployment crises:AUSTIN – As many as 82,000 unemployed Texans won’t receive an immediate 13-week extension of benefits as they expected because of federal rules and state computer problems, the Texas Workforce Commission said Tuesday.
In addition, the state unemployment insurance system is straining under the weight of the crumbling economy: Texas will have to borrow $643 million from the federal government to cover claims through Oct. 1, a commission official said. And the system for processing applications is overwhelmed. On Monday alone, more than 150,000 callers couldn’t get through to the commission, an official said.
Commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt said the extended benefits will be delayed “a couple of months, at least.” She blamed “complex federal requirements” after the Legislature hastily passed a law to take advantage of new benefits included in the federal economic stimulus bill that Congress enacted in February.
-Texas has been on a troubling path toward a trust fund deficit for months as paid claims have more than doubled since 2008. The state’s climbing jobless rate sparked a debate in the recent legislative session over Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to reject $555 million in unemployment stimulus money, which he said would impose a long-term tax burden on Texas employers.
Commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt said state officials have been scrambling to implement a 13-week extension but have been delayed by complex federal regulations and computer problems, meaning that the added assistance will be unavailable to thousands of people.
via In Texas, thousands face a lengthy gap in unemployment benefits | Business | Star-Telegram.com.
Tom Toles
-
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 –
– The Univeristy at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will be the site of a new computer-chip packaging center that is expected to create 200 jobs.
The center is part of a state initiative with IBM Corp. originally announced last year.
via Albany NanoTech site of chip-packaging center – The Business Review (Albany): .
Current Indicators Still Suggest Weakness
The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from -2.2 in June to -7.5 this month. The index has been negative for 19 of the past 20 months, a span that corresponds to the current recession (see Chart). Firms reporting decreases in activity (31 percent) slightly outnumbered those reporting increases (23 percent). Other broad indicators suggest weakness, although recent declines in new orders may be stabilizing. The current new orders index edged three points higher, to -2.2, its highest reading in 10 months. However, the current shipments index declined 12 points. Indexes for delivery times and unfilled orders, which have remained negative for 15 consecutive months, suggest continued weakness.
Six-Month Indicators Show Continued Improvement
Broad indicators of future activity fell somewhat from their six-year highs last month, but they continue to suggest that firms are expecting improved conditions later this year. The future general activity index remained positive for the seventh consecutive month, but decreased from 60.1 in June to 51.9 this month.
via July 2009 Business Outlook Survey – Philadelphia Fed..
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Update: The NUMMI auto factory in Fremont must navigate plenty of perils if it is to survive. Yet despite the hazards, rescue routes beckon that could retain the Japanese automaker.
For a quarter-century, the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. vehicle plant, which employs 4,700 workers, was a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. But the NUMMI venture now circles the fringes of a whirlpool. GM, while working through bankruptcy, abandoned NUMMI, and Toyota says GM’s departure has forced it to explore all options, ranging from going it alone to shutting the factory.
via Toyota at NUMMI: Should they stay or should they go? – San Jose Mercury News.
Drew Sheneman
The mushrooming foreclosure crisis affected more than 1.5 million homes in the first six months of the year, according to a report released Thursday by foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc.
via Foreclosures rise 15 percent in first half of 2009 – Yahoo! Finance.
– VICTORVILLE • A total of 47 city employees were handed layoff notices Wednesday, in the first round of cutbacks that will help Victorville begin to close a $13.4 million budget deficit.
via Victorville layoffs begin | victorville, layoffs – Top Story – Victorville Daily Press.
DENVER — The government-owned company that employs federal prison inmates is closing some factory operations at 14 prisons and downsizing operations at four more amid multimillion-dollar losses, according to a copy of a memo provided by a prison union official.
The memo didn’t say how many staff jobs were affected. Bureau representatives didn’t return after-hours phone messages.
via The Associated Press: Some operations at 14 US prison factories closing.
– The Rapides Parish School District will cut 43 positions as part of a belt-tightening plan designed to avert a budget deficit this year.
via Rapides Board to cut 43 jobs to avoid deficit | thetowntalk.com | The Town Talk.
Mike: I was under the impression that unions were all for one and one for all, but that seems have have taken a turn to one for me and too bad for you. How do you look your union brother in the eye and say I voted for you to lose your job, since I didn’t want to take any type of salary cut. I, and most Americans (59%), support unions, but activities like the onesin Chicago place a tarnish on those once proud unions.
– Mayor Richard Daley’s administration today laid off more than 400 city workers after two unions did not agree to cost-cutting measures before a 5 p.m. deadline.
“Unfortunately, it’s clear there won’t be an agreement,” said mayoral spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard. “Today is their last day on the city payroll.”
Jack Hurley, recording secretary at Teamsters Local 726, which will lose 141 drivers, said it was “unfortunate that it had to come to this.”
“We understand there’s economic problems with the city and they had to do what they had to do, but our members spoke loud and clear,” Hurley said.”The members spoke and we went along with their wishes and that’s how it has to be.”
via Daley lays off more than 400 city workers after deadline passes | Clout Street – local political coverage.
Americans remain broadly supportive of labor unions, as they have been over the past seven decades, including a 59% approval rating for unions in Gallup’s most recent update from August.
via Poll: Americans Remain Broadly Supportive Of Labor Unions.
– Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski made good on his threat Wednesday and laid off 39 employees from the city’s largest union , the largest jobs cut since 1994.
via As promised, Allentown lays off 39 — themorningcall.com.
– STRONGSVILLE A total of 19 Strongsville City School District teachers, many on the elementary level, were cut Monday night due to the implementation of a reduction of force by the school board.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
– Harley-Davidson Inc. says it is cutting 1,000 more employees as its second-quarter profit sank 91% on falling motorcycle sales……..
In a news release Thursday, the company said it will implement a further reduction this year of approximately 700 positions in the hourly production workforce and will reduce its non-production workforce, primarily salaried employees, by 300 additional positions.
via As profit plummets, Harley to cut 1,000 more jobs – JSOnline.
– Digital River Inc. said Wednesday it will eliminate 120 positions worldwide as part of a plan to outsource its customer-service operations and re-align its business to focus growing markets. But it’s also adding jobs in Minnesota.
– Westminster car parts manufacturer Marada Industries will shut its doors by July 2010, succumbing to the auto industry’s widespread struggles.
The company release said roughly 150 employees will be affected, making it one of Carroll’s larger employers.
via Carroll County Times: Westminster, Maryland.
– The slumping housing market is forcing Dashwood Industries in Centralia to slash 20 jobs in already hard-hit Huron County.
via London Free Press – Local News- 20 jobs slashed in Centralia.
– NEW YORK (AP) — McGraw-Hill Cos., hit by declines in its education, financial services and media properties, said Thursday it has cut 550 jobs.
via McGraw-Hill cuts 550 jobs – Yahoo! Finance.
– Diamond Power officials announced the workforce reduction of 35 salaried employees and 32 hourly manufacturing employees.
– Romero House, short $20,000 on the necessary funds to pay their employees into next month, will be laying off all of their eight paid staff members on August 7.
– CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A reorganization of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation has resulted in three full-time workers at Monticello being laid off and another being offered part-time work.
via Fredericksburg.com – 3 laid off at Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia home, CORRECTION, VA .
– In response to the global recession, Cisco Systems is slashing as many as 700 jobs at its San Jose campus, a source close to the company’s leadership said Thursday.
– Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 1,200 jobs, taking the total job losses for the year to 8,200.
The jobs will mostly go in IT support and in insurance services following the merger of its Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical businesses.
via BBC NEWS | Business | Lloyds to cut another 1,200 jobs.
– The ‘Bord Snip’ report has recommended axing 17,358 jobs across the public sector, including eliminating some 6,000 jobs in the Department of Health and Children and 7,000 in the Department of Education.
– A Lufthansa spokeswoman, Amelie Schwierholz, said the airline expects to eliminate about 400 jobs in total, though mass firings are not being considered “at present.”
via Lufthansa to Cut About 400 Jobs, Mostly in Germany (Update1) – Bloomberg.com.
– Two hundred and fifty jobs are to go at Anglesey Aluminium which has failed to reach a new power deal for cheap electricity.
-The NEC Group has confirmed that 82 job cuts will be made – significantly fewer than it had expected.
In April Paul Thandi, chief executive of The NEC Group, announced that more than 100 redundancies could be made across the company’s four Birmingham venues following a 90-day consultation.
via Meetpie.com .
Nissan is set to make its Wearside plant the biggest electric car factory in Europe – securing thousands of jobs.
via 4,500 jobs safe with electrifying Nissan deal – Sunderland Echo .
-More than 50 call centre staff at Infoteam International Services’ Plymouth site have been told they face the axe following the loss of a major contract.
– It is believed eight tutors at Hereward College, in Bramston Crescent, Tile Hill, will be out of work following a restructure at the college, which caters for students with special needs.
via Coventry Telegraph – News – Coventry News – Tutors at Hereward College face redundancy.
– BT will bring at least 2,000 call-centre jobs in India back to Britain as it prepares to close about half its customer service operation on the sub-continent, it emerged yesterday.
via BT returns call-centre jobs to Britain from India – Times Online .
LONDON – Associated Newspapers is to bring forward the shutdown of Teletext’s analogue TV services to January 2010 rather than 2012 as previously envisaged, putting around 70 staff at risk of redundancy.
via Associated accelerates Teletext shutdown putting 70 jobs at risk – Media news – Media Week.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use–
-State grants and loans of about $7.5 million will help a solar industry company bring 375 new jobs to the area within the next two to three years.
State Reps. Deberah Kula, D-North Union Township, and Ted Harhai, D-Monessen, have announced Solar Power Industries (SPI) in Rostraver Township will receive $7.5 million in matching grants and loans to manufacture solar technology systems at the Sony plant site in New Stanton.
via The Herald Standard – Solar firm to ad 375 new jobs.
Mike: I have to admire, Bob!
– But this time, Bob laid himself off–not because he wanted to or was quite ready to retire, but because he wanted to save the positions of two younger managers whose names were on the layoff rolls.
via The Boss Who Laid Himself Off – HBR Editors’ Blog – Harvard Business Review.
Mike: Larger layoffs were announced at some well-known companies with the big news coming from Cisco at day’s end. Till Friday…………………..
Ed Stein
Tags: employment, jobs, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, staff cuts, unemployment
Unemployment: It’s worse than you think:
– The average length of unemployment is higher than it’s been since government began tracking the data in 1948.
– June’s total assumed 185,000 people at work who probably were not. The government could not identify them; it made an assumption about trends. But many of the mythical jobs are in industries that have absolutely no job creation, e.g., finance. When the official numbers are adjusted over the next several months, June will look worse.
– More companies are asking employees to take unpaid leave. These people don’t count on the unemployment roll.
– No fewer than 1.4 million people wanted or were available for work in the last 12 months but were not counted. Why? Because they hadn’t searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.
– The number of workers taking part-time jobs due to the slack economy, a kind of stealth underemployment, has doubled in this recession to about nine million, or 5.8% of the work force. Add those whose hours have been cut to those who cannot find a full-time job and the total unemployed rises to 16.5%, putting the number of involuntarily idle in the range of 25 million.
– The average work week for rank-and-file employees in the private sector, roughly 80% of the work force, slipped to 33 hours. That’s 48 minutes a week less than before the recession began, the lowest level since the government began tracking such data 45 years ago. Full-time workers are being downgraded to part time as businesses slash labor costs to remain above water, and factories are operating at only 65% of capacity. If Americans were still clocking those extra 48 minutes a week now, the same aggregate amount of work would get done with 3.3 million fewer employees, which means that if it were not for the shorter work week the jobless rate would be 11.7%, not 9.5% (which far exceeds the 8% rate projected by the Obama administration).
– The average length of official unemployment increased to 24.5 weeks, the longest since government began tracking this data in 1948. The number of long-term unemployed (i.e., for 27 weeks or more) has now jumped to 4.4 million, an all-time high.
– The average worker saw no wage gains in June, with average compensation running flat at $18.53 an hour.
– The goods producing sector is losing the most jobs — 223,000 in the last report alone.
– The prospects for job creation are equally distressing. The likelihood is that when economic activity picks up, employers will first choose to increase hours for existing workers and bring part-time workers back to full time. Many unemployed workers looking for jobs once the recovery begins will discover that jobs as good as the ones they lost are almost impossible to find because many layoffs have been permanent. Instead of shrinking operations, companies have shut down whole business units or made sweeping structural changes in the way they conduct business. General Motors and Chrysler, closed hundreds of dealerships and reduced brands. Citigroup and Bank of America cut tens of thousands of positions and exited many parts of the world of finance.
Continue by clicking link:
via Average length of unemployment highest since 1948. – WSJ.com.
Jack Ohman
- Lost contracts threaten 2,000 S.C. (BCBS) jobs
- Boeing says defense cuts will mean loss of 1,000 jobs
- US Airways job cuts (600) to affect Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
- Lockheed to Cut 600 Jobs
- Andersen cuts more than 500 jobs
- NASA to cut 400 jobs, contractor says
- First wave of shuttle layoffs (250) due at KSC in October
- More Cisco Job Cuts Coming?
- Schwarzenegger orders 2,000 more state jobs cut
- U of Calgary) expected to cut at least 200 staff
-
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 –
– Cisco Systems (NSDQ:CSCO) reportedly is preparing to ax more positions this week as the company continues the job cuts and restructuring it first highlighted in its second-quarter earnings call in February.
Sources have told Channelweb.com that Cisco would most likely start slashing more jobs this week. It was unclear exactly how many positions could be eliminated.
via More Cisco Job Cuts Coming? – Networking – IT Channel News by CRN.
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7:00 AM ETNEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, driven by a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates tumbled, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
However, demand for home purchase loans, an early indicator of home sales, fell to its lowest level since late-May. The drop does not bode well for the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which is plagued by a huge supply and demand imbalance amid mounting foreclosures.
The MBA’s seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 9.4 percent to 258.8, the lowest reading since the week ended May 22.
via US mortgage applications rise as interest rates tumble | Reuters .
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![[Star]](http://bloomberg.econoday.com/images/bloomberg/star.gif)
8:30 AM ETNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A key index of consumer prices rose more than expected in June but showed the largest year-over-year decline since January 1950, the government said Wednesday.
via Consumer price index up 0.7% in June, down 1.4% over year – Jul. 15, 2009 .
8:30 AM ETJuly 15 (Bloomberg) — Manufacturing in the New York region shrank this month at the slowest pace in more than a year, bolstered by the largest gain in orders since the recession began.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s July general economic index climbed to minus 0.6, the highest level since April 2008, from minus 9.4 the prior month, the bank said today. Readings below zero for the Empire State index signal
via Manufacturing in New York Area Shrank at Slower Pace (Update2) – Bloomberg.com.
9:15 AM EMike: Another positive spin on a lousy report. Here you have a 0.4 dip in industrial production from a revised number that was worse than reported last month.
The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that production at America’s factories, mines and utilities fell 0.4 percent last month as the recession crimped demand for a wide range of manufactured goods, including cars, machinery and household appliances.
The decline, however, was not as bad as May. Industrial activity posted a revised 1.2 percent drop then, which turned out to be slightly worse than first reported.
via Industrial activity logs smaller-than-expected dip – Yahoo! Finance.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Scott Stantis
-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered department heads to eliminate 2,000 jobs on top of the 5,000 positions he wants to cut as part of his budget solution, his officials said Tuesday.
Although Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders remain far apart in how to close the state’s $26.3 billion shortfall, the governor’s latest job-slashing order is aimed at helping prepare for inevitable cuts in state services, said Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Personnel Administration.
via Schwarzenegger orders 2,000 more state jobs cut.
– California: The haves and have-nots
– Instead of making a planned budget presentation to the DuPage County Board Tuesday, Regional Office of Education Superintendent Darlene Ruscitti was in Springfield lobbying for missing state grant funds that forced her to cut 14 jobs.
via Daily Herald | State withholds grants, DuPage education czar cuts 14 jobs.
– Bryan city officials are eliminating 10 positions to help recover a $1.3 million shortfall in the general fund budget.
City Manager David Watkins said two of the positions are vacant and will not be filled, while eight people are being laid off. The savings, which includes salaries and benefits, amount to $500,000 to $600,000.
via 10 jobs to be cut, 3% raises OK’d | Bryan/College Station, Texas – The Eagle.
– Even before Miami-Dade begins filling a gaping hole in its fiscal 2010 budget, the county’s Park and Recreation Department has laid off 23 full-time employees just to make ends meet this year.
via Miami-Dade parks lays off 23, signal of tough budget choices ahead .
– HAMMONTON — The town followed through with plans to lay off four municipal workers, a move expected to save the town up to $180,000.
– The city of Twinsburg is looking to cut 25 firefighters, Twinsburg Mayor Katherine Procop says.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
– More than 2,000 South Carolina jobs are in jeopardy after a BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina subsidiary lost out on the bids to help run the military’s health insurance program.
Administering government health care programs is a key business strategy for BlueCross and it has been involved with the military’s plan for years.
via Lost contracts threaten 2,000 S.C. jobs – Local / Metro – The State.
– The head of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), Jim Albaugh, told workers in an internal message Monday the division will eliminate about 1,000 jobs because of Pentagon budget cuts.
via Boeing news | Boeing says defense cuts will mean loss of 1,000 jobs | Seattle Times Newspaper. .
– MINNEAPOLIS – US Airways said on Tuesday it will cut 600 ground jobs this fall because of the slow economy.
The airline said it will close its Las Vegas US Airways Club and cut jobs at its club in Phoenix, and also shut the walk-up ticket counter at its headquarters in Tempe, Ariz., its last counter outside an airport.
via US Airways job cuts to affect Wichita Mid-Continent Airport | Top Stories | Wichita Eagle.
– July 14 (Bloomberg) — Lockheed Martin Corp., the world’s largest defense company, will cut 600 more jobs in New York following the cancellation last month of its contract to develop and build the next U.S. presidential helicopter.
– In another sign that the housing market has yet to hit bottom, window manufacturer Andersen Corp. said Tuesday it will permanently eliminate 250 management and staff positions, more than half of them at its Bayport, Minn., headquarters.
– Four hundred space shuttle employees will be laid off beginning in October, a spokesman for a National Aeronautics and Space Administration contractor told CNN on Tuesday
Jeff Carr, spokesman for United Space Alliance, NASA’s primary contractor for the space shuttle, said he thinks most of the layoffs will come from volunteers, and 60 percent are to come from Florida crews.
He said notice of the layoffs has been sent to the entire corps of Space Shuttle employees.
-The company that services NASA’s space shuttles announced plans Tuesday to shed nearly 250 jobs in Florida later this year — its first major layoff in a looming disaster for an economy tied to Kennedy Space Center.
United Space Alliance, the prime contractor for U.S. space-shuttle operations, will also cut its work force in the Houston area by about 150 people.
via First wave of shuttle layoffs due at KSC in October – OrlandoSentinel.com.
– DALHART — By late September a hundred forty-five people in Dalhart will be without a job.
Premium Standard Farms is making cutbacks.
via Dalhart Job Cuts.
– MUSCLE SHOALS – Norfolk Southern has reduced the amount of job cuts at the Sheffield rail yard to 65, officials said Tuesday.
Company officials initially planned to cut 84 jobs at Sheffield, said Robin Chapman, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern in Atlanta.
via Railroad reduces job cuts to 65 | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL.
– Independent Health Association said Tuesday that it is laying off 50 employees, outsourcing some technology and telecommunications jobs, and selling the majority of its third-party administration business to a local industry veteran.
via Independent Health cuts 50 jobs : Business : The Buffalo News.
– ESAB Welding of Florence is set to cut back jobs by the end of this year
via ESAB Welding to cut jobs in 2009 : News : WPDE .
– YOUNGSTOWN – Forum Health will eliminate about 50 jobs at Northside Medical Center when it moves the hospital’s adult Behavioral Health services to Trumbull Memorial Hospital over the next month, officials announced Tuesday.
-Nokia Canada has cut 20 more jobs in British Columbia as Nokia’s parent, Finnish-based Nokia Oyj, aims to cut costs by centralizing its gaming development, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
via Nokia cuts 20 B.C. jobs .
– CALGARY – The University of Calgary has become the latest public sector employer to consider layoffs amid lean economic times, with the school’s president warning faculty and staff Tuesday that as many as 200 jobs will be cut by the fall.
– LONDON (Reuters) – British luxury car-maker Jaguar Land Rover will cut 300 jobs from its Halewood plant in the north of England and stop production of its X-Type car due to the downturn in the auto industry.
via Jaguar Land Rover to cut 300 jobs, slows production | Reuters .
– Thousands of postal workers are to strike on Friday in a worsening dispute with Royal Mail over jobs, pay and services.
via 12,000 post staff plan to walk out | Metro.co.uk .
– We plan to enter a mass program of lay offs, which might result in sacking 600 persons in our headquarters. We shall conduct consultation talks and we hope to reach an agreement with the trade unions. Following that approval we shall begin structural changes, which should be concluded this year,” said Andrzej Klesyk, president of PZU.
via Warsaw Business Journal – Online Portal – wbj.pl.
– Slovenj Gradec, 15 July (STA) – The Prevent car seat covers manufacturer group is set to let go nearly 170 people in Slovenia in the coming weeks. 119 workers at Prevent will get pink slips in the coming days, while an additional 50 working in parent company Prevent Global are to follow in August, Monika Zvikart of Prevent Global told STA on Wednesday.
– EIGHT jobs will be axed in Barton after supermarket bosses announced the closure of the Co-op store in Barton.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use–
– SEGUIN — Commissioners learned Tuesday that the Caterpillar plant now under construction will bring with it more than a dozen primary suppliers that will need facilities within two miles of the plant — and will create in all 4,000 local jobs, a nearly three-fold increase over Caterpillar’s workers alone.
– A Wilmington air cargo charter company that serves DHL Worldwide Express plans to move its 150-person operation to Florence pending the approval of payroll tax credits from Florence City Council.
via ASTAR bringing 150 jobs to Florence | Cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com.
Mike: A busy day for layoff announcements and news. Tomorrow brings us the Jobless Claims report, which is expected to show some improvement from last week’s 565,000 claims. I’ll put my guess on 555,000, but I think the revised number will increase to 575,000. Till then……………………….
Tom Toles
Tags: cisco, hiring, jobs, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, unemployment
Mike: My job has been a little easier so far this week with the reduced number of layoff announcements, which may be an indication that there’s a slowdown in layoff activity, at least in the short-term.
These’s plenty of retail economic news out there today and it’s a very mixed bag. I’ll let the people in the know give you their impressions. I’ll stay away from the main stream media outlets, since they merely skew everything to a point where I can’t trust most of their analyses:
Retail Sales Continue to be Weak
via Retail Sales Continue to be Weak – RetailSails — Seeking Alpha.
From Bloomberg:
July 14 (Bloomberg) — Sales at U.S. retailers rose in June, helped by incentives at car dealers and higher gasoline prices that boosted service-station receipts.
Good, right?
Not so fast:
Purchases excluding automobiles and gasoline dropped for a fourth consecutive month
via More Media Misdirection: Retail Sales – The Market Ticker.
Walt Handelsman
Mike: I had to dump this news at the top since it made my blood boil when reading it. Here you have a company so connected to Washington, (Geithner, Paulson, Rubin, etc.) that it cannot fail, but it cannot be stopped from screwing the American taxpayer. They grab $10 billion in TARP funds, get preferential treatment with regard to AIG and then have the gall to pay out up to $900,000 in bonuses PER person. If this doesn’t make you angry enough to contact your congressional rep, than nothing will and these taxpayer beatings will continue to happen at your expense. These companies have no ethics, morals, humanity, decency or empathy. They exist for greed and greed alone. You, the taxpayer, are their peon and will remain a peon until you demand to be treated as an equal. Here’s where you and I can vent that anger: Contact your congressional representative
The investment bank Goldman Sachs delivered a clear signal that the good times are returning on Wall Street by milking a recovery in financial markets to generate profits of $3.44bn (£2.12bn), raising the prospect of average pay packages of as much as $900,000 for its employees.
Goldman’s success has generated its fair share of detractors. Critics point out that the bank was the biggest counterparty in financial insurance policies to the insurer AIG and that its collateral calls contributed to the US company’s collapse, requiring AIG to seek $150bn of government aid.
Furthermore, Goldman itself received $10bn from the US government’s troubled asset relief fund, which it paid back last month to avoid any further caps on dividends or remuneration. The firm converted to a ‘bank holding company’ last year, allowing it to take retail deposits, as the business model of a standalone Wall Street bank came under threat.
via Goldman Sachs staff set for bumper bonuses as bank earns $38m per day | Business | guardian.co.uk .
“I believe Tim Geithner only represents part of Wall Street – Goldman Sachs,” he says, suggesting Goldman was the “primary beneficiary of the AIG bailout” and notes Goldman alum Stephen Friedman serves on the board of the NY Fed. (Hank Paulson and Robert Rubin, with whom Geithner had frequent meetings in the past year, are also Goldman alum.)
-Max Keiser: “Does the US Secretary of the Treasury work for the people or does he work for the banking system on Wall Street?”
Dr. Paul Craig Reports: “He works for Goldman Sachs.”
via Tim Geithner, Employee of Goldman Sachs? | The Big Picture.
-
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 –
Mike: Remember the headlines from a couple months ago about the dangers of H1N1? Well, it’s still out there and still causing problems.
– HYDERABAD: Google India has had to shut down one of its offices in Hyderabad after one of the employees was confirmed to be suffering from the H1N1 flu virus.
Of the 250 employees in this particular office of Google, 95 were sent to the AP General and Chest Hospital on Tuesday to undergo the swine flu test. Of these, seven employees showed swine flu symptoms and were quarantined even as Google office shut its office for two days for its premises to be sanitised.
via Swine flu scare shuts Google office in Hyderabad – Hyderabad – City – NEWS – The Times of India.
This map and the data behind it were compiled by Dr. Henry Niman, a biomedical researcher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using technology provided by Rhiza Labs and Google. The map is compiled using data from official sources, news reports and user-contributions and updated multiple times per day.
via FluTracker – H1N1 Swine Flu and Influenza Outbreak Tracking from Rhiza Labs.
7:45 AM ETAfter reporting last week that retail same-store decreased by 5.1% in June YoY, The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) said that comparable same-store sales for large chain stores fell by 0.7% in the first week of July vs a year ago, while same-store sales decreased 0.9% on a week-over week-basis, the first weekly drop in a month.
via Retail Sales Continue to be Weak – RetailSails — Seeking Alpha.
8:30 AM ETSeparately, the Labor Department reported a 1.8 percent increase in the Producer Price Index, a measure of prices paid by retailers to factories and farmers, more than double economists’ forecasts. The index rose 0.2 percent in May.
The jump in the price index is likely to bring back debate of which direction inflation is headed. Weak unemployment and wage data have largely constrained retailers’ pricing power, but surges in energy prices beyond the control of retailers have proved significant.
8:30 AM ETHowever, outside of autos and gas stations the sales results were disappointingly weak, suggesting consumers remained wary of stepping up discretionary spending despite signs the recession may be drawing to a close.
via Autos lift retail sales as inflation perks up | U.S. | Reuters .
8:55 AM ETU.S. national chain store sales fell 1.7% in the first week of July versus the previous month, according to Redbook Research’s latest indicator of national retail sales released Tuesday.
via WMT = Redbook: US Retail Sales -1.7% First Week July Vs June.
10:00 AM EWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. business inventories fell 1 percent in May, marking a ninth consecutive monthly decline, pressured by a steep drop in stocks of autos and parts, Commerce Department data showed on Tuesday.
via U.S. business inventories fell 1 percent in May | Markets | Hot Stocks | Reuters .
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It’s time for a serious second stimulus — not a hodge podge of pork and transfer payments, but a truly big and bold infrastructure program (like what we were promised the first time, but which didn’t happen) to put people to work.
via 10 Reasons Employment Is Worse Than You Think: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance.
Nick Anderson
– Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is prepared to cut another 2,000 jobs from the general fund, state officials told state employee union and exempt employee association leaders in a conference call this morning. The cuts could be part of a deal that must close the state’s $26.3 billion fiscal gap, which widens by $25 million each day lawmakers fail to enact a budget.
via The State Worker: Another 2,000 general fund jobs could be axed, administration says.
Mike: I’m not sure what will be more deadly, the extra guns on the street or fewer police officers, but needless to say, if both occur at once it won’t be a pretty picture ………….
– SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA – The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors could approve the layoffs of 202 sheriff’s deputies Tuesday. The fear of less deputies may be behind a gun sales surge.
According to the state attorney general’s office, gun sales are up 40 percent in Sacramento County since November. It is the biggest growth of any county in the state.
via Looming Deputy Layoffs May Be Behind Gun Sales Surge | News10.net | Sacramento, California | Local News .
– CALGARY – Thirty City of Calgary employees in development and building approvals received layoff notices Monday, a result of declining permit revenues and a sign of the city’s struggle to balance its books in a tightening economy.
via City of Calgary cuts 30 jobs amid budget balancing .
– Hamilton County will likely reveal at the emergency meeting how much departments will have to cut their budgets in order to balance the 2009 budget.
Layoffs are likely, as the county grapples with yet another month of plummeting sales tax revenue.
via More county layoffs ‘inevitable’ | Cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com.
– Cadillac Area Public Schools made $680,000 dollars in cuts. Monday night, the school board voted to layoff eight teachers and nine paraprofessionals.
via 9&10 News: Seventeen Layoffs for Cadillac Area Public Schools.
– LAKEMOOR – Five village employees have been laid off as Lakemoor officials try to combat a mounting deficit.
via Northwest Herald | Five village employees laid off in Lakemoor.
– In a packed board meeting, the Moreno Valley Board of Education announced that the district’s approximately 1,850 teachers had agreed to each take two furlough days to save jobs threatened by layoffs.
– Mayor Richard Daley today said 431 city employees would be laid off Wednesday if two holdout unions don’t agree to unpaid days off and other cost-cutting measures.
via Daley says 431 city workers to lose jobs if no deal by midnight | Clout Street – local political coverage.
– The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs is laying off 24 employees, but the agency says all divisions will remain open.
via S.C. Consumer Affairs laying off 24 employees | SCNow.
– FALL RIVER — Police have voted to accept an 8 percent pay cut, saving the city about $530,000 this fiscal year, city and police officials announced Monday.
As part of the three-year agreement approved by the 145-member Fall River Police Association at a union meeting last week, salaries will return to their current levels for the following two fiscal years, reports the Standard-Times.
– US and some Canada Layoff News –
-Oscient has cut 280 of its 305 jobs this year as part of an effort to preserve cash and reduce debt. In February, it eliminated 100 jobs, and in June, it cut its 150-person sales force and 30 other positions.
– Finding out the Dixon plant will close this fall. A decision that will wipe out 211 jobs when the economy is down and out. Workers expect that the plant will close for good in early October. They’ll receive a severance package and retraining opportunities.
via Johnson Controls to close Dixon plant – WQAD.
– Now it seems the rest of the workers will also be out of a job. There are about 143 employees on staff right now.
via Auto supplier closing in Battle Creek | style, margin, bottom – Top Stories – WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3.
– MUSCLE SHOALS – Norfolk Southern Corp. will close part of the operations at its Sheffield rail yard, a move that involves cutting 84 jobs.
via Railroad cutting 84 jobs | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL.
– That’s about 25 of the 550 people who work at the headquarters, 8155 T&B Boulevard, just north of Southwind off Hacks Cross.
via Thomas & Betts cuts Memphis jobs : Business News : Memphis Commercial Appeal.
– Massachusetts-based Stride Rite Corp. has notified the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that the company will close its distribution center in Huntington, leaving 120 employees jobless.
IBJ.com – Indianapolis Business Journal – #ArHeadline#.
– St. Joseph Health System, an Orange-based Catholic hospital operator with three local facilities, said Monday it is cutting 159 local jobs.
via Orange County Business Journal Online.
– GE Capital Corp. has laid off 127 employees at a Bedford, Texas, operation in the past three months, and the company said staff reductions may continue through mid-September.
via GE Capital lays off 127 in Bedford, Texas; more cuts planned – The Connecticut Post Online.
– Robin Wasson says the loss of a single job, much less 29, is substantial in a town as small as Chipman.
– Volunteer and Information Kingston, a non-profit agency that acts as a clearing house for information about community programs and volunteer opportunities in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, has laid off three paid staff and is returning to its roots as a volunteer-run organization.
via Volunteer centre lays off three of four paid staff – Napanee Guide – Ontario, CA .
– ASHEVILLE — UNC Asheville is cutting eight current staff jobs and closing two scientific research centers in response to an expected 10 percent reduction in state funding, university officials announced Monday
via UNCA cuts jobs, research centers | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times.
– SALISBURY — Some 30 positions at the Delmarva Media Group — publisher of The Daily Times and its weekly affiliates, including the Ocean Pines Independent — have been eliminated, officials announced Thursday.
via Delmarva Media Group eliminates 30 positions | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times.
– Colonial BancGroup announced last week it was cutting 136 jobs across its five-state region.
via Daily Commercial.
– About 300 workers at a Prince George, B.C., call centre will be working their last shift on Tuesday after a Dallas-based company decided to close its largest Canadian operation.
via 300 Prince George call centre workers face layoffs.
– LAS VEGAS, Nevada — International Game Technology said it’s laying off another 55 workers at its Reno headquarters this week as it continues to adjust during the recession. Meanwhile, its main competitor says it’s looking to grow.
– The center-right government announced it would slash the number of employees in its central administrative staff by 1,145 people, or 30 percent, by the start of 2010. In addition, the number of state agencies will be reduced from 73 to 36.
– MORE than 70 workers at a Stockport sportswear firm, which sponsors a number of UK rugby teams, have been made redundant after it fell into administration.
via Deals/Restructuring / 72 jobs go at Stockport sportswear firm THEBUSINESSDESK.COM.
– We have acted quickly in order to minimise the number of posts at risk and as a result we expect the outcome to result in a small reduction in staff numbers.”
via TBWA Manchester confirms redundancy talks – North West Media News – How-Do.
– Brazil’s JBS SA (JBSS3.SA), the world’s largest beef processor, said on Tuesday it had laid off 742 workers from three plants located in Sao Paulo state.
via Brazil beef group JBS cuts more than 700 jobs | Industries | Consumer Goods & Retail | Reuters .
– Arts Council England has announced the details of its latest restructure, which aims to save £6.5 million a year in administration costs.
via The Stage / News / ACE to cut 130 jobs in latest restructure.
– Around 60 jobs are on the line in border control at MAF Biosecurity and Palmerston North’s office might close in the restructure.
– Hiring News and News You Can Use–
– If you haven’t already heard, Twitter is a great resource for making the job search a bit easier. Jobs are actually delivered to you, thus reducing a lot of the legwork on your part. TweetMyJobs.com is just another applicatio built on top of the Twitter application.
via Tweet your way to a job with tweetmyjobs.com.
– U.S. Bank announced this spring it would add 300 jobs to its operations in Owensboro. Now, the new facility off the U.S. 60 Bypass and Highway 54 is starting to take shape.
– Hundreds of Indiana auto parts workers are back to work at the Mid-Range Engine Plant in Walesboro.
via NEWS/TALK 1010 WCSI Radio – WCSI Weather – Columbus Indiana.
– According to Revolution , the company wanted a senior manager based in Minnesota with at least two years of mobile or social media marketing experience, a year’s of active blogging experience, a Bachelor’s degree, and… 250 Twitter followers.
Tom Toles
Tags: cut jobs, job loss, jobs cut, laid off, layoffs, plant closing, staff cuts
