Mike: Good day to all. Today is starting out with some bad news on the layoff front, as this blog’s headline suggests. Must be the corporate leaders are getting back from their extended July 4 breaks and are ready to get back to downsizing.

There are a couple of defense related layoffs with the Boeing and Lockheed announcements being the eye-catchers. And although there is significant waste and overspending in defense department budgets, it shows how banks are given trillions to survive and they produce nothing, but defense manufacturing jobs are eliminated to contain federal budgets. Why not give Boeing and Lockheed additional funds to develop some useful products, such as hybrid vehicle batteries, less expensive wind turbines, and other products that depend less on oil, which would be beneficial for defense needs and peacetime pursuits.  Corrupt banks are given everything and more by the feds, but the workers of this country are given less and less. The continuing destruction of manufacturing jobs at the expense of Goldman and other banking profits shows just whose side your federal representatives are on: Boeing to cut 1,000 defense jobs, Lockheed to Cut 600 Jobs.

I may often come across as a pessimist or a sky-is-falling kind of guy, but I’ve developed that habit after seeing how both private industry, especially banks/investment banks/insurance companies/mortgage brokers/etc., along with inefficient government and lax oversight have brought the world economies to the point of collapse. Reading the following article puts the current unemployment crises into perspective. I have mentioned many of the unemployment issues that are contained in the following article, but this article is written much more clearly and concisely by Mort Zuckerman than I have been able to present. I urge you to read the entire piece in and absorb the many facts which show that the true state of unemployment is worse than advertised and not likely to improve anytime soon.

- Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:

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.

- General Economic News -

Mike: 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.

- Government Layoff News -

-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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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

-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.

- DALHART — By late September a hundred forty-five people in Dalhart will be without a job.

- International Layoff News -

- 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.

- 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.

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Mike:  Tuesday is a rather quiet day for economic reports and layoff announcements so far, so I’ll get on to the news of the day. Since I’m running a little late today and don’t have time for commentary right now, I’ll urge you to take a look at the following article that includes part-time workers in the unemployment rate. It’s an interesting take on how to more widely gauge the unemployment rate. Warning, the numbers you see may be unnerving:

- Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:

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 -

-A lawsuit claims the IBM employees credit union in South Florida caused its members to lose millions by steering them to investments in bonds from a now-bankrupt Georgia finance company that made loans to churches and faith-based organizations.

- General Economic News -

- NEW YORK – Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered an immediate citywide hiring freeze on Monday to help bridge financial gaps he said are caused by the gridlocked state Senate’s failure to act on city budget matters.

- US chain store sales fell 4.2 pct last week-Redbook

- - The trade association said Tuesday the composite delinquency rate among eight types of closed-end installment loans rose to 3.23 percent. That is the highest recorded since the ABA began tracking the rate in the mid 1970s and tops the previous record of 3.22 percent set in the last quarter of 2008.

Mike: Below is a story that highlights one of the reasons that some drug prices are so high, and it shows how the government was basically in bed with a number of these drug companies to keep those prices artificially inflated by supporting “pay for delay.”

- July 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Justice Department said settlements in which makers of brand-name drugs pay to delay the introduction of generic competitors should be considered illegal in many cases.

- Government Layoff News -

- HOLYOKE – Students will learn in larger classes, have fewer elective courses and see fewer special programs because of major cuts the School Committee made last week while trying to balance its budget.

- US and some Canada Layoff News -

- DeCrane Aircraft Seating Co. plans to temporarily lay off 90 employees at its Peshtigo plant by late summer.

- International Layoff News -

- COPENHAGEN, July 6 (Reuters) – A Danish airline workers’ union said on Monday it failed to win agreement on concessions offered in talks with Scandinavian airline SAS (SAS.ST), and that it expected more than 300 job cuts.

- Hiring News and News You Can Use-

- LEXINGTON, KY – Lexington has landed nearly 100 new jobs as Scentsy – a company specializing in wickless candles sold by independent agents, often in “Tupperware Party” type settings – has announced plans to locate an 80,000 square foot distribution center at W.T. Young Storage at 2471 Palumbo Drive.

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Mike: The holiday weekend is behind us and a full week of unemployment news begins.

This morning I was browsing the news and came across these little stories that got my head a shakin’.

“We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package,” Biden said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having distributed the bulk of the money.”

via Biden Acknowledges Administration ‘Misread’ The Economy | 44 | washingtonpost.com.

My first reaction is that both parties, starting at the top, are absolutely clueless about the extent of joblessness, it’s causes and cures. I’m not here to say that I have all the answers, but when I see our so-called leaders bickering, sniping and pointing fingers instead of properly reviewing the unemployment problem and taking focused action, I think that we are headed for a worsening unemployment situation. At least Biden tells it like it is, instead of hiding behind the clouds of lies, deception, and false hope.

The Republicans, who were in charge of the economy for most of the past decade, have Boehner complaining about the stimulus although the Republicans diminished the size of the stimulus by cutting back Obama’s initial plan and demanding billions in tax breaks. The initial recommendation was for a $1 trillion stimulus that was reduced to $789 billion, which included over $200 billion in Republican demanded tax breaks. Those tax breaks aren’t job creators and aren’t likely to be of any value until next year at the earliest. Sure, those tax breaks included an small income tax cut, which averages $13 a week. That $13 has been eaten up just in  higher gas prices, so there was no stimulative affect to that tax break. How about an imcome tax holiday for six months or eliminating the income tax on unemployment benefits? No, that’s too easy and it doesn’t play to their base. The Republicans have failed the economy for the past ten years, so they have little to complain about.

The Democrats, for their part, are just as clueless, as can be observed by Biden’s ”We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package”. While their stimulus package was touted for its job creation, much is geared to long-range projects like high speed rail, green jobs, etc. While there may be some value to those goals, jobs won’t be created quickly or in sufficient numbers to make much of a difference in the unemployment rate. Infrastructure funding will be helpful in the long-term, but how many people are going to get road work jobs? Do you think the laid-off nurse, teacher, auto worker, and textile worker are going to jump on a backhoe, crane or cement truck and build roads? Not likely. I have read that many road repair projects were eliminated by states and municipalities due to budget constraints, so the road funding from the stimulus is in many cases just picking up those cancelled projects, so road work companies aren’t going to add hundreds of thousands to their payrolls.

With unemployment increasing, along with foreclosures and bankruptcies, people are going to be cutting back on spending and trying to save what they can for upcoming rainy days, and in many cases survival. Neither the Republicans nor Democrats did what was necessary and give each and every household sufficient money to stimulate the economy. In fact neither party proposed eliminating the income tax on unemployment benefits, while at the same time they turned their heads when Goldman Sachs presented their executives with record bonuses, which were accomplished with help from taxpayer funded bailouts. Fair? No. But the parties we have to chose from are both in the pockets of the big financial firms and they could care less about the struggles of the worker, since they get their campaign funds from the big dogs. Both parties claim to be the party of the little guy, but are in fact agents of the rich and powerful.

I don’t know how the Obama administration and their financial wizards misread the economy, when smart, talented and observant people like those at the following sites were generally quite aware of the stimulus shortfalls:

• http://market-ticker.denninger.net/,
• http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/,
• http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/,
• http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/
• http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Dr. Robert McHugh (www.technicalindicatorindex.com) states the following in his weekly letter to subscribers:

I completely agree with McHugh’s take on the matter and I if our clueless leaders don’t get a handle on this growing problem, they will only prolong the pain. Write your representatives today and demand that they change course and funnel funds to you and not just the corrupt corporations: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt. Without your pressure, the parties (we need more than two, by the way, but that’s a different post) will continue to take your money and give it to those same financial frauds that deserve it least.

- ”We’ll definitely see the end of this recession this summer,” ECRI managing director Lakshman Achuthan said Wednesday. “As unique and unprecedented as this recession has been, the transition to recovery is showing up in a textbook way in the leading indicator charts.”

via ‘We’ll definitely see the end of this recession this summer’ – pressofAtlanticCity.com : Business.

On June 1 we pointed to three clear markers that signified the beginning of US economic recovery. As we enter July more and more economists are also reflecting on the signs that the US economy as a whole is returning to growth.

via Citizen Economists » More Economists Point to Recovery Signs.

-U.S. manufacturing shrank at the slowest rate in 10 months in June, an industry group said, adding to a raft of data Wednesday suggesting the recession is bottoming out.

via Investors.com – Manufacturing Data Support Optimism Recession Is Ending .

Thanks for listening and onto today’s news………………

- Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:

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 -

- But last week, Mr. Jobs returned to work on a part-time basis, precisely when he said he would. Experts with only a general knowledge of his treatment suggest his prognosis is good.

- General Economic News -

- WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The service sectors of the U.S. economy contracted at a slower pace in June, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday. The ISM nonmanufacturing index rose to 47.0% from 44.0% in May. The decline was better than expected. Economists were looking the index to rise to 46.0%.

- JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — With its IOUs and plans to close state offices three days a month, California gets all the attention as lawmakers fight to write a budget set off balance by a $26.3 billion deficit.

- Government Layoff News -

- With states facing a $121 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, a growing number of them have turned to squeezing their workforce for savings, and effects are being felt, both great and small.

- SACRAMENTO—Sacramento firefighters have agreed to freeze their salaries for two and a half years, averting layoffs for at least a year.

- US and some Canada Layoff News -

-The company, which said it would cut 350 jobs, added that JPMorgan Chase Bank has informed the company that its $10 million line of credit was not available to be drawn down upon until the regulatory matter was resolved.

- SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Meridian Automotive Systems is idling a central Indiana factory, putting 295 people out of work.

- International Layoff News -

- FRANKFURT, July 6 (Reuters) – BASF (BASF.DE) plans to cut 3,700 jobs as part of the integration of Swiss rival Ciba and may sell or close as many as 23 of Ciba’s 55 sites, it said on Monday.

- Hiring News and News You Can Use-

- - STEP 1. Categorize your spending: You can’t budget if you don’t know how you’re spending your money. Pull together bank and credit card statements from the last three months, said Barbara McMahon, a financial adviser in Kansas City, Mo. Lump the line items into broad categories, such as food, housing, debt repayment, savings and entertainment.

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Good day to all. The US is closed for the holiday, but there are still enough news stories to keep this post going for the day.

Yesterday the monthly jobless report showed a larger loss of jobs in June than expected. There is one point that should be emphasized and that is US needs to create about 120,000 jobs a month to just break even due to population increases and new workers, like college grads, entering the workforce. So when to see yesterday’s monthly job loss of 467,000, remember to add to that the 120,000 jobs that weren’t created.

Here’s a take from the monthly jobless report that finally paints a picture of reality. As quoted below: “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

That sentiment has been lacking in the “US: recession yes/no debate for the past six months, especially in the main stream media, which has pumped the “green shoots” mantra since the stimulus debacle. Why is that statement accurate? Here are a few reasons why the stimulus wasn’t stimulating to most of us, but was very stimulating to the banks and the other crooks that created this financial mess:

The stimulus was pushed as a job creation machine for the masses, yet it has showed that this is so far not the case. Why hasn’t the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 been a job creator? I think it’s because the majority of those funds went to tax breaks and businesses that have no intention of hiring more people. As an example, why would a road construction firm hire more people to build roads when states and municipalities are cutting back on their funding for road work? The feds may have prevented further layoffs at these firms, but it isn’t likey to create tens of thousands of more jobs.

Take a close look at the above paragraph and I’ll go over the numbers. My simple take is that the total funds pumped into the system by the fed are about $3.3 trillion dollars. I think that’s a conservative estimate, since some have determined that the total amount of money the feds have pumped into bank bailouts and stimulus is approaching $14 trillion. But I’ll take the conservative approach and use the $3.3 trillion figure mentioned above. So instead of the $789 billion in stimulus funds and the $2.5 trillion sent to bank crooks, your elected leaders in congress could have decided to send each of America’s 110,000,000 households a check for $30,000.  I’m not sure about you, but wouldn’t a check for $30,000 be more stimulating than a promise of some sort of economic recovery  would occur based on giving banking thieves and large companies trillions of dollars?  You and I could have decided to stimulate the economy by spending some of that $30,000 on what we thought was important. The feds could have sent each household $30,000 in gift cards and demanded we spend the money over a two year period. But no, they decided to give the cash to the like of Goldman Sachs and other banking giants that caused our dire financial condition. Oh, and because of the taxpayers largess to these bank frauds, Goldman Sachs is distributing record bonuses this year:

In closing this rant, I want to give a few examples on how the rich got richer during this taxpayer givaway, while the person that needed the most help was discarded or given a tiny slice of pie to make them think that their concerns were being met:

• Unemployment benefits 1: The government estimates that there are 14.7 million unemployed people, but that is probably a conservative estimate. While the benefits period was extended in most states, there are states like Texas that refused the government extension funds. The recession officially started in December 2007, so anyone laid off from that date forward who has not found a job has likely exhausted the maximum 72 week unemployment benefit period. More people will be coming off the benefit rolls, not as a result of getting a job, but as a result of exhausting benefits. The negative fallout from that could start to have an affect on increased crime and even lower consumer demand, let alone mortgage and utilities payments.
• Unemployment benefits 2: The feds raised the maximum benefit by $25 in most cases, if the funds were approved by the states. There are still a number of states, like dysfunctional NY, that haven’t approved a new budget to allow for those extra funds to be distributed. As usual, our elected leaders are more concerned about showmanship and grandstanding than performing their duties effectively.
• Unemployment benefits 3: These benefits are taxed as income. Why didn’t the feds just eliminate the income tax portion of unemployment benefits instead of raising the payment $25? The $25 payment increase had to be approved by the states, but the elimination of the income tax from unemployment benefits would have happened immediately without state intervention. And that extra $25 a week given to the unemployed is taxable, so the true amount received in most cases will be less than $25. Banks, insurance companies and other corrupt businesses are now allowed to give their employees record bonuses, but the unemployed are still being asked to pay taxes on some meager benefits.
• State budgets: States were given stimulus funds for a number of purposes, but they still need to balance their budgets and most of that balancing has to be done shortly. States and other entities will have to cut jobs to meet lowered property and sales tax receipts. Those job cuts include the ranks of social services, which are more needed during a recession, but are hacked at an alarming rate during troubled times. Child care, transportation, welfare, utility payment and other subsidies (Domestic Violence Shelter Lay Offs) are cut further when needed most. So the poor suffer while the boys and girls at Goldman and other investment houses live lavishly from bonuses orchestrated by taxpayer bailouts.

- Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:

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 -

- General Economic News -

- Tom Silver, senior vice president of Dice.com, told us this morning that Dice.com is reporting a 44% year-over-year drop in job listings for the month of June. May’s year-over-year decline hovered around 45%.

- Government Layoff News -

-  SPRINGFIELD – The state budget mess is starting to be felt here at home.

The Sojourn Domestic Violence Shelter in Springfield was forced to lay off eight workers Wednesday and is now

via Domestic Violence Shelter Lay Offs.

- US and some Canada Layoff News -

- MICHIGAN CITY – Sullair Corp., 3700 E. Michigan Blvd., laid off 50 workers on Tuesday as the economic downtown has continued to shrink market demand for air compressors.

- International Layoff News -

- 11,000 mail deliverers and sorters will be made redundant at TNT Post, the Netherlands’ former national postal service announced in its staff magazine on Thursday. The company, which is struggling with new competition and high wages, says a reorganisation is unavoidable after the unions turned down a deal to cut pay instead of jobs.

- Engineering group Siemens (SIEGn.DE) will cut the 900 jobs at its Prague rail car factory in August, a spokesman said on Thursday, the latest jobs loss as central European industry struggles to gain orders.

- Anglesey Aluminium is offering 140 staff voluntary redundancy because a new power deal that gives them cheap electricity has not been reached.

- Hiring News and News You Can Use-

- COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — Cummins Inc. is recalling 400 laid-off workers as it resumes production of the Dodge Ram engine at a central Indiana factory.

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http://alphainventions.com/ for a look at websites from around the globe.

Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009

via S. 414 – Summary: Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us).

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 Gannett Company, owner of the nation’s largest newspaper chain, will go through another round of layoffs soon, with an announcement possible in the next few days, executives said Tuesday.

- General Economic News -

Monster Employment Index

- Ford Motor Co. (F) reported a smaller-than-expected 11% drop in U.S. sales for June, while rival Chrysler Group LLC posted a steeper-than-expected decline of 42%.

- Government Layoff News -

- SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Legislators in more than a half-dozen states, their revenues evaporating in the recession, frantically worked to stave off government shutdowns and devastating service cuts. California failed to meet a midnight deadline and now may need to issue IOUs instead of paying bills.

- The budget cuts the state workforce by 5 percent, with 200 layoffs and another 400 vacant positions being eliminated.

- Five Bridgewater police officers have been laid off to balance the town budget.

- US and some Canada Layoff News -

-Briggs & Stratton Corp. on Wednesday announced a plan to close its Jefferson and Watertown factories in fiscal 2010, leading to the loss of at least 430 jobs.

- A 3M manufacturing plant in Southbridge that makes safety goggles and ear plugs will be shuttered next year, putting 200 factory employees out of work

- RACINE, Wis. — Johnson Outdoors Inc., which makes kayaks, dive equipment and tents, said Tuesday it is closing a plant in Ferndale, Wash., eliminating 90 jobs.

- International Layoff News -

- GAZ Group is laying off about 6,500 people from its main production site in Nizhny Novgorod, a GAZ spokeswoman said Tuesday.

- LONDON – Diageo PLC, the world’s biggest spirits maker, said Wednesday it is cutting 900 jobs as it shutters a 199 year-old distillery and packaging plant as part of a cost-cutting restructure of operations in Scotland.

- The wine group Foster’s will ask 50 workers at the Karadoc Lindemans winery, near Mildura in north-west Victoria, to take voluntary redundancy packages.

- Hiring News and News You Can Use-

- The Oshkosh Corp., will get up to $12 billion to make thousands of armored vehicles which the Pentagon urgently needs in Afghanistan.

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