Mike: Good morning to all and thanks for visiting The Layoff List.
I am moving The Layoff List postings to http://www.layofflist.org/. So please take the time to visit the new location of The Layoff List and be sure to bookmark it. I hope to make the site a more enjoyable experience for its readers. The new location of The Layoff List should load faster and allow me to offer you more options that aren’t allowed at WordPress.com.
Later this week I’ll have a site redirect enabled and you will sent directly to the new location of The Layoff List, but until then I thought this note would allow for a more comfortable change.
Let me know what you think should be added or omitted from The Layoff List. Do you want more hiring news, more outside commentary, or more information about government programs? Your comments are always welcome as well as your layoff stories and tips. If you have any news about layoffs that I’ve not posted, send them along and I’ll make sure they are given some attention. Thanks. The Layoff List
Just a reminder, I’ll be moving this site to http://www.layofflist.org/ over the next couple of days, so don’t be surprised when you see a redirect notice when accessing this current version of The Layoff List. The new and improved Layoff List will load quicker and allow me to offer some additional items, which are not allowed at WordPress.com. Please visit http://www.layofflist.org/ and let me know what I can do to make your visits more rewarding. Thanks ………....
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Mike: A relatively quiet day again for layoff announcements of the larger kind. Hopefully this latest week is not merely a lull in the action. I’m going out this weekend to test my new Canon camera, so if I shoot anything of interest, I’ll post for comment. I hope you all have a fine weekend.
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Yesterday’s jobless claims number was a positive sign in a lengthy period of negative reports. With stimulus money being spent and sent to states for large projects, the worst of the job losses may be coming to a close. There are a number of indicators that suggest when the four-week jobless claims moving average starts to decline, the recession hits bottom within a couple months. Keep your fingers crossed that the four-week claims continue to decline. While there are still many economic obstacles in the path to economic growth, these signs of improvement are encouraging. The following article shows the relationship between peak unemployment and economic recovery:
He points to one indicator in particular with a remarkable track record: the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits. In past recessions, it has hit its peak about four weeks before the economy hit a trough and began to grow again. As of right now, the four-week average of new claims hit its peak of 650,000 in the week ended March 14. Based on the model, “if there’s no further rise, we’re looking at a trough coming in April or May,” he said, which is far earlier than most forecasts currently anticipate.
Mike: The US imprisons more people per capita than any other country in the world and the prison population isn’t even considered when tabulating unemployment. Why not save the taxpayer a bunch of money and give some model prisoners the ability to do some work? We give tax cheats and dishonest bankers great government gigs, so why not give some petty criminals a mop? What are your thoughts?
– COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio wants to use prisoners to replace Statehouse janitors and groundskeepers who were laid off because of budget cuts, angering a labor union.
The state board that operates the building says it will probably use two inmates to do grounds work and another five for night cleaning.
– As of year-end 2007, a record 7.2 million people were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total, 2.3 million were incarcerated.[7] More than 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated at the start of 2008.
– HP extended its lead in the worldwide PC market while Dell slipped a few points and Acer gained a few others to finish the quarter in a virtual tie for the number two spot. The U.S. market in particular held up better than others, with shipments dipping somewhere between 0.3 and 3.1 percent depending on who you ask. But while the worldwide ranking stayed unchanged from last year, Dell’s shipments dropped precipitously in the United States, which cost them the number one spot in the country after a 10-year run as the top shipper of PCs.
– The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary April reading of consumer sentiment rose to a level of 61.9, up from 57.3 in March and was the highest since 70.3 recorded in September.
– Consumers would receive vouchers worth as much as $5,000 for trading in models from 2001 or earlier for a new vehicle, under the legislation Sutton proposed March 17. The program may spur sales by more than the 21 percent increase witnessed in Germany in February, Sutton has said.
Mike: The crooks and tax dodgers that have been part of the initial Obama administration is staggering. I’m sure there are a few honest, ethical and trustworthy individuals running his economic teams, but the people who show a complete lack of those positive traits seem to increase in number on a regular basis.
– NEW YORK (AP) — An investment company run by the head of the Obama administration’s auto task force has been accused of paying more than $1 million to an aide to New York’s former comptroller in a bid to win a lucrative deal with the state pension fund.
– ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines Inc. no longer is outsourcing reservation calls to India after years of complaints from customers who preferred to speak to someone in the United States.
– But now a study highlights another area where workers laid off from companies with fewer than 20 workers get pinched: The 65 percent government COBRA subsidy to help people extend their health insurance is either not available to them or not as comprehensive in many states.
– Fifty jobs will be lost after the state Department of Corrections announced the October closing of the annex portion of the Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, a minimum security prison in Brocton.
– More than a dozen city employees lost their jobs this morning as North Port continues to adjust to the recession. City Manager Steve Crowell announced 24 job cuts this morning, 14 in jobs that are occupied and 10 unfilled positions.
– Teradyne Inc. will eliminate 350 jobs and further reduce its executives’ annual salaries as part of ongoing plans to lower expenses as demand for chip making equipment continues to decline, the chip testing equipment maker said in a regulatory filing.
– And with that, 622 jobs are set to expire between June 24 and July 8, according to a plant-closing notice the company filed with the state Department of Labor on Monday.
– The Richmond, Va., company also said it cut its work force by nearly 300 jobs in the week of March 31 and plans to freeze its pension plan at the end of May.
– CARNEYS POINT TWP. – Feeling the pinch of the tough economic times, the Salem Community College Board of Trustees has approved the elimination of seven positions and reworked over a dozen others in order to close a budget shortfall.
– NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times is cutting sections and trimming its budget for freelance contributions in another round of belt tightening aimed at coping with a steep decline in ad revenue.
– Vale Inco employs about 5,000 workers in Ontario mostly at the two operations. It also has a major presence in northern Manitoba and in Labrador, where it operates the Voisey’s Bay mine.
– Workers at the Clarksville plant lost their jobs, some of whom had worked here since the plant opened in 1967. Mac Betts has put in 35 years of his life working here. Now he doesn’t know what to do.
– DHL Express’ decision to reactivate its Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG) facility will mean the movement of about 180 full-time positions and 650 part-time positions from Wilmington to the Northern Kentucky airport, a DHL spokesman said this morning, April 17.
– UAW Local 122 president Doug Rice said 450 to 500 employees will be laid off starting April 20. Rice said those laid off include assembly plant and maintenance workers as well as skilled trades workers.
– Three employees have been laid off from the admissions and financial aid office as part of the effort to trim $72 million from the College’s budget by 2011, according to Dean Maria Laskaris.
-GARY | About 40 U.S. Steel Corp. workers were recently laid off, some permanently, because of problems with a blast furnace, local union officials confirmed Thursday.
– Rocked by the financial markets and by donors also rocked by the markets, the UND Foundation and its sister organization, the UND Alumni Association, earlier this week laid off four of its 44 employees, spokeswoman Leanna Ihry said.
– Three months after eliminating dozens of jobs at its Kansas City plant, Harley-Davidson will lay off 70 more local workers in response to sluggish sales.
– At a joint meeting Wednesday night, leaders of two local railroad unions, the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) told members to prepare for big layoffs in Buffalo.
– Seventeen non-clinical employees at Jackson Hospital were laid off this week, representing about 1.5 percent of the total work force at the Pine Street hospital, said hospital spokesman Peter Frohmader.
– The company will cut 3,900 contract workers in Japan by March of next year, according to spokeswoman Hiroko Mochida. That is in addition to the 4,500 Japanese contract workers it previously said would be cut by last month.
– STOCKHOLM (AP) — Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a euro293 million ($387 million) net loss in the first quarter on falling sales and said it would slash an additional 2,000 jobs to cut costs.
– The entire workforce of the Rousse Shipyard is being laid off until further notice as of April 27, the press service of the company has said, as reported by Dnevnik daily.
– ALLENS Arthur Robinson has become the latest big firm to impose a pay freeze to deal with what is expected to be one of the most testing years for the legal services industry.
– LONDON — Printed circuit board manufacturer Ruwel GmbH (Geldern/Pfullingen, Germany), which filed for insolvency earlier this year but continued to operate at a reduced level, is now planning to commence redundancies amongst its 600 staff.
– RALEIGH — Gov. Beverly Perdue proposed a new program Thursday designed to quickly retrain people and match them with jobs where there are shortages.
At a news conference at WakeMed, Perdue said she would use $13.4 million in federal stimulus money to start accelerated six-month training programs for 12 occupations. She called it “12 in 6.”
– The projects, which total $956 million, are expected to add 1,300 jobs, according to estimates. It will also repair electric lines and replace many of the state’s 2,500 miles of aging gas pipes.
– April 16 (Bloomberg) — Research In Motion Ltd. Co-Chief Executive Officer Mike Lazaridis plans to keep hiring to spur the flow of new BlackBerry models, signaling the phone maker is withstanding a recession that forced rivals to trim payrolls.
– BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Help is wanted at the New Embassy suites. They’re looking to hire up to 90 people as they prepare to open this summer, and a popular theme park is looking for 400 workers.
– ADS Inc., a company that supplies special operations gear to the military, announced Thursday that it plans to hire 10 workers after winning a contract worth at least $153.6 million to sell flame-resistant garments to the U.S. Army.
– Faneuil said it will hire about 180 full-time employees and additional support staff for the project. It currently employs 2,400 at 12 offices statewide.
– Jobs are hard to come by these days, but Live Nation is offering an opportunity to pick up one for the summer. The concert promoter/venue operator has nearly 1,500 seasonal jobs at The Gorge, in Eastern Washington, and Auburn’s White River Amphitheatre. Positions range from stagehands to T-shirt sellers, and pay around $9 to $15 per hour.
– Job creation, economic investment and the development of renewable energy will be the key points highlighted by Vice President Joseph Biden and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke during an event at the ABB manufacturing facility in Jefferson City, Mo., today, where they will join representatives of Wind Capital Group (WCG), Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI), ABB, GE Energy, United Auto Workers (UAW) and RMT to announce the development of the Lost Creek Wind Farm. This new project is expected to create over 2,500 jobs.
Mike: A relatively quiet day again for layoff announcements of the larger kind. Hopefully this latest week is not merely a lull in the action. I’m going out this weekend to test my new Canon camera, so if I shoot anything of interest, I’ll post for comment. I hope you all have a fine weekend.
Just a reminder, I’ll be moving this site to http://www.layofflist.org/ over the next couple of days, so don’t be surprised when you see a redirect notice when accessing this current version of The Layoff List. The new and improved Layoff List will load quicker and allow me to offer some additional items, which are not allowed at WordPress. Please visit http://www.layofflist.org/ and let me know what I can do to make your visits more rewarding. Thanks ………….
Mike: I hope you are all having a great Thursday and thanks for visiting.
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The number we are all looking at today is the Jobless Claims number. A second important number that will give of view of the economy’s health is the Housing Starts report. Both of those economic indicators will be available at 8:30 Eastern.
There was finally some better news to report on the jobless claims numbers as 53,000 less applied for unemployment than the previous week. Although the previous week was adjusted upward from 654,000 to 663,000. While the 610,000 is a significant improvement, we need to wait for the revised number before we know if that improvement is accurate. For the past five months, nearly all the initial jobless claims numbers came in higher once revised. Any improvement is a positive, especially when the weekly bounces are removed for the four-week moving average report. This is two consecutive weeks of improved jobless claims, so let’s hope this is a trend. I have to say that I have seen less layoff action the past couple weeks. While this blogger can’t account for nearly all the layoff announcements that happen on a weekly basis, I have noticed that there seems to be a slowing of the pace of announcements.
Not all the news was positive today, as housing starts dropped to a near record low in March of 510,000 units. Even with abnormally lowinterest rates and better housing prices, people are not signing the number of new home contracts that would be expected. But with over 600,000 people losing their jobs each week, it may be a case of people waiting till they see some economic stabilization before they buy a new home.
– A cautionary note: There is also the issue of job creation. I have mentioned that US needs to CREATE 120,000 jobs a month to merely keep even with job population growth. So if we are still losing 600,000 jobs a week and we need to create 120,000 each month, where does that leave us? I’ll do some simple math and divide 120,000 by 4 = 30,000 per week. So on top of the 600,000 lost, we aren’t creating the 30,00o jobs a week to keep even. Therefore job loss is magnified, but not reported, by 30,000 a week.
Additionally, since last week was a short work week due to the Easter holiday, some job cuts may have been postponed till this week. We’ll know more about that next week.
I somewhat discount the continuing claims number and its record breaking habit simply because unemployment benefits have been extended to 72 weeks in some states. I don’t recall unemployment benefits reaching that length of time previously, so it would make sense that more people remain on benefits. If benefits lasted only 50 weeks, that number would start to decline as people exhausted benefits. Once the latest 13-week increase ends, this number is likely to decline as a result.
If jobs losses continue to improve, we will be fortunate indeed, since an economy cannot rebound without job creation. I look forward to posting fewer job loss announcements and more hiring announcements!
Onto the news of the day………..
The 610,000 new claims for unemployment insurance was 53,000 less than the 663,000 seen in the April 4 week; Labor initially reported 654,000 new claims that week.
The four week moving average in the current week fell 8,500 to 651,000, the first decline since mid-January.
The Labor Department says its tally of initial jobless claims dropped to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 from a revised figure of 663,000 the previous week. That is significantly below analysts’ expectations of 655,000.
The number of people claiming benefits for more than a week increased to 6 million, the highest on records dating to 1967.
– The layoffs, the first since Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz joined in January, could be formally announced Tuesday, when the Sunnyvale Internet company reports first-quarter earnings.
– Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is planning a new round of job cuts according to the reports as the company continues to cope with the aftermath of a downturn in online advertsing sales.
The New York Times and Reuters, citing several people with knowledge of the plans, said the layoffs could affect several hundred employees and may be announced as early as Tuesday when Yahoo reports its first-quarter earnings.
– The Silicon Valley company is seeking buyers for the HotJobs employment site, people familiar with the company’s plans said on Wednesday, adding that other acquisitions could follow HotJobs out of the door. Yahoo struck a deal to buy the site in 2001 for $436m in cash and stock.
– WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, government data on Thursday showed, but the number of people continuing to receive benefits rose to a fresh record.
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 53,000 to a seasonally adjusted 610,000 the week ended April 11 from a revised 663,000 the week before, the Labor Department said. The slowdown of new claims for jobless benefits would be a good sign, if it continues.
In a second report, the Commerce Department said housing starts fell 10.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units, second lowest on records dating back to 1959, from February’s downwardly revised 572,000 units.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary break, according to data released Thursday.
The big unknown for the coming months, however, is President Barack Obama’s plan to help up to 9 million borrowers avoid foreclosure through refinanced mortgages or modified loans. The Obama administration expects its plans to make a big dent in the foreclosure crisis. But it remains to be seen whether the lending industry will fully embrace it, despite $75 billion in incentive payments.
– With unemployment at 9.4 percent in Florida and nearly 50,000 new applications for food stamps each month, the state has paid JPMorgan Chase nearly $50 million over the past three years to provide food stamp program services, which include customer service call centers in Bangalore and Gurgaon, India.
“She’s got every right to be incensed,” said state Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, chairman of the House Human Services Appropriations Committee. “I can understand why she would feel that this is just not a good policy. We’ll definitely look into it.”
Spokesmen for Gov. Charlie Crist and Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon declined a request for comment.
– LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nation’s second-largest shopping mall owner, General Growth Properties, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday in a tough bargaining move to restructure it’s $27 billion in debt.
– The Interim Louisiana State University Public Hospital in New Orleans is planning to cut 300 jobs in response to $24 million in state budget cuts, according to the Times-Picayune.
– PORTLAND, Ore. — Administration will be downsized. Teacher in-service and possibly even class days will be lopped off the school year. Staff positions will be cut. Classes will be larger. And those working for the public schools system will pay higher premiums for health care.
– MILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson Inc. said Thursday it expects to cut up to 400 more jobs as its first-quarter profit tumbled 37 percent due to a sluggish motorcycle market.
– SPOKANE – The local medical community is bracing for more job losses after Sacred Heart Medical Center announced it was laying off 19 positions Wednesday afternoon.
– New York–Ultra Stores Inc., the 181-unit chain that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, will close a dozen underperforming stores in six states and two territories as the chain moves forward with its plan to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy.
– The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has joined the list of organizations announcing layoffs, by eliminating 83 jobs, or about 3 percent of its workforce. The Seattle-based nonprofit research institute said in a statement that it made the budget cuts to offset the drop in charitable giving that it counts on.
– Melba Industries, which supplies protective fabrics to the armed services and firefighters, has been in voluntary administration since February and is now likely to go into liquidation.
– GRAMBLING, La. (AP) – Grambling State University will make about 30 personnel cuts as it responds to a scheduled 16% budget cut for the state’s next fiscal year.
– Cambridge-based provider of engineering data and design software, Aveva, has announced that it will be reducing its workforce by 10 per cent amid difficult market conditions.
– Officials of the union that represents about 200 Indianapolis Star staff members last night agreed to what amounts to a 12-percent pay cut this year in contract negotiations with the newspaper’s struggling parent company, Virginia-based Gannett Co. Inc.
– DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines Co. reported a surprisingly large loss in the first quarter due to weak traffic in the recession, and the company said it was freezing hiring and offering buyouts to employees to trim its work force.
– A reorganization that consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy Co. is rolling out will lead to job cuts and lower pay for thousands of Best Buy store employees, an analyst said Wednesday.
– GREENSBORO — The News & Record is cutting 25 jobs in its latest step to reduce costs resulting from the recession and its impact on advertising revenue.
– Officials of the society, the keeper of the state’s historic sites and treasures, announced this afternoon that 94 full-time and part-time employees wwould be laid off July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.
– The University of Florida will consider eliminating 748 jobs and closing several academic programs to save about $75 million if the next state budget requires cuts approaching 10 percent, university President Bernie Machen said today.
– Reading Hospital plans to reduce its workforce by 3.9 percent or 250 positions through attrition and layoffs, according to a hospital news release issued this morning.
– There have also been layoffs at Electra’s largest employer. Coming with the fire that burned down the Agriboard plant there, this is just more salt on the wound. NATCO won’t give us a number — a spokesperson only says that the layoffs amount to half a percent of its worldwide staff.
– HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) – Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc has cut another 50 investment banking jobs in Asia, excluding Japan, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday
– April 16 (Bloomberg) — Shinsei Bank Ltd. plans to cut “hundreds” of jobs at the consumer lending unit it bought from General Electric Co. last year as it closes branches to weather an industry contraction, the head of the division said.
– Hong Kong’s biggest port operator has sacked 28 staff, and a trade union claims the company will sack a total of 80 under a plan to reduce costs by 20 percent, the South China Morning Post reported.
– German auto parts company Schaeffler Group KG said Thursday that it will cut 195 jobs at a French unit and end production at a plant there as it struggles with weak demand for cars.
– Sen. Jack Reed said, “These projects are shovel-ready and will put an estimated 150 Rhode Islanders to work upgrading runways and lighting to make these airports safer and more efficient.”
-State regulators delivered a booster shot to the state’s economy this morning, approving nearly $1 billion in utility infrastructure spending that will create about 1,300 new jobs.
– Fifty-five new natural resource conservation projects in 20 states — many having to do with building and sustaining conservation initiatives on cropland — will bring up to 1,500 new jobs into the U.S. economy in the coming months, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Thursday morning.
Mike: Wednesday proved to be an active layoff announcement day, especially for a number of international firms, including UBS and Air France. US layoff announcements were also active and it appears that municipalities are finally having to disclose job cuts. Some of those cuts, such as LAs 5400 cuts will be painful to the citizens.
Tomorrow brings the all important Jobless Claims report, which is expected to show jobless claims rising slightly form last week to 658,000. They will also likely report the revised numbers from the previous week and it will be interesting to see if those numbers are revised up or down.
Don’t forget that today is the last day to file your taxes in the US! Although banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and auto makers can delay and renegotiate their government bailout terms and they can refuse to disclose how TARP funds are allocated, you need to show that you are more responsible than those corrupt institutions. If all else fails, at least file for an extension by midnight tonight. Remember, it’s easier for the IRS to drag down and audit the average taxpayer than it is for them to go against the corrupt banks and firms that have the capacity to throw expensive and talented lawyers against the overworked and underpaid IRS legal teams. While the IRS is here to serve you, you don’t want it to serve you a subpoena.
Mike: One of this blog’s readers sent the following note to me this past weekend. He personally knows the situation at NYC Health and Hospitals Corp. and wanted to share his views. It shows the more personal side of layoffs and not just the number of layoffs reported by the media:
FYI: This concerns layoffs in the NYC Health and Hospitals Corp., i.e. public hospitals. At Coney Island Hospital, for example, 4 school based psychiatric programs and a busy satellite medical clinic are being closed. Staff that are no longer “needed,” of course, will be laid-off. The mayor uses the threat of layoff to press unions to negotiate contract reductions. Similar layoffs are threatened in the Board of Ed. Aside from a few notices there is very little specific information being reported.
The original announcement for NYC H&H:
– Nearly 400 jobs will be lost and community clinics that serve more than 11,000 patients will close, according to Aviles.
Mike: If you live in the NYC area or you just want to comment about some of the draconian cuts to NYC Health and Hospitals Corp., you can write the following people:
Remember, that with your input your elected and appointed officials will merely do as they please and you know that their decisions are not always based on what’s best for the community they serve………….
Marshall Ramsey - Apr 15
* Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:
Mike: Take your pick from the Cisco stories below. If you have any additional Cisco layoff information, pass it along to The Layoff List in the comments sections or by emailing me at Mike@layofflist.org:
– Maybe not. In a note summarized by TheStreet.com, JPMorgan analyst Ehud Gelblum predicted today that Cisco could announce a 10% headcount reduction, which could save the company $900 million a year. Cisco could announce layoffs as part of its earnings report next month, another analyst told TheStreet.
– Cisco Systems has dismissed predictions of a 10 per cent reduction in headcount from a JPMorgan analyst.
Ehud Gelblum has gone out on a limb and said Cisco “could” announce the 10 per cent cut and “could” save the company about $900m (£600m) a year through the move according to report by the Silicon Alley Insider. The Insider cites TheStreet.com. Let the whispering games begin.
– The exodus of some more Yahoo employees might continue as Yahoo is said to be planning on announcing another round of layoffs during its first quarter financial report on Tuesday.
– Still, the drop in March was steeper than expected. The Federal Reserve said production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent, matching February’s decline and worse than the 1 percent decline analysts forecast.
– April 15 (Bloomberg) — The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell last week for the first time in more than a month, indicating any stabilization in housing will be slow to materialize even as borrowing costs drop.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to purchase a home or refinance a loan decreased 11 percent to 1,113.2 in the week ended April 10, the lowest level in a month, from 1,250.6 the prior week. The group’s refinancing gauge and purchase measure each dropped 11 percent.
– WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A key gauge of consumer prices fell unexpectedly in March and recorded its first annual drop since 1955, government data showed Wednesday, as slumping demand pushed down energy and food costs.
The Labor Department said its closely watched consumer price index fell 0.1%, after increasing 0.4% in February. On a year-over-year basis, consumer prices were down 0.4%, the first 12-month decline since August 1955.
– (CEP News) – Manufacturing activity in the New York region continued to decline, but at a slower rate than previously thought according to a survey from the New York Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
The New York Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing survey rebounded to -14.65 in April from the previous month’s record low reading of -38.23. The results are better than the consensus forecast for a -35.0 reading.
The reliability variance of the index is +/- 8.6 points. A reading above zero indicates growth in the manufacturing sector, while a negative reading indicates slowdown.
– – Autoblog reports, “As GM teeters on the brink of insolvency, it’s become clear that Saturn will get no new vehicles sourced from within GM and some dealers have decided to close up their stores. Since January 1, two dozen Saturn outlets have shuttered bringing the current total down to 394 with four more in Wisconsin due to close this week.”
Mike: The following story shows Michigan’s deteriorating unemploymeny numbers. But what needs to be addressed is that those numbers are not the “true” unemployment numbers. When adding the other unemployed to the equation, the unemployment rate in Michigan is more likely near 17%.
– Michigan’s unemployment rate jumped to 12.6 percent in March, but job losses have slowed in recent months, good news for the hard-hit state.
Still, the rise from 12 percent in February to 12.6 percent announced Wednesday is likely to keep Michigan in the spotlight as the state with the nation’s worst unemployment rate. The national unemployment rate in March was 8.5 percent.
Mike: I get a kick out of these reports, such as the one below, where they headline that something “soars,” yet when you look at the numbers it’s more bad news. It’s like the kid coming home from school with his latest report card and he goes, “Mom, my report card numbers soared!” After further investigation, the score soared from 9 to 14 in the scale of 50 being passing. While 14 is better than 9, soaring is a bit of an overstatement. Improved, increased, or rose might be more appropriate. While exploded upward, skyrocketed, or soared is misleading.
– LOS ANGELES (AP) — The National Association of Home Builders says its housing market index posted its biggest one-month jump in five years in April as many homebuyers seized on lower prices and incentives.
While still near historically low levels, the Washington-based trade association said Wednesday the index rose five points to 14, it’s highest reading since October.
Index readings lower than 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market.
Mike: Government departments and agencies are starting to cut the jobs that they had to in order to balance their budgets. The stimulus package will eliminate some job loss, especially at schools, but most states and cities will be cutting jobs, and with that, services.
– LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Board of Education has voted to lay off as many as 5,400 teachers and support personnel for the upcoming school year.
The vote came Tuesday as employees protested raucously outside the meeting. The board had voted hours earlier to save the jobs of 1,996 elementary school teachers using federal stimulus funds.
– The Enlarged City School District of Troy plans to remove a total 62.8 fulltime equivalent positions by the end of its fiscal year to balance a proposed $95.11 million budget, which the public will vote on in May.
– The Clark County Superintendent calls it a “sad day” for the school district. Tuesday, trustees approved massive budget cuts that call for the elimination of about 850 full and part time positions.
– Governor Deval Patrick cut an additional 750 jobs from state government yesterday and said he will furlough 5,000 executive branch employees for up to five days, a response to relentlessly plunging state revenues that have forced the governor to make an unprecedented series of spending reductions.
– SOUTHFIELD — Facing declining enrollment and rising costs, Southfield Public Schools expects to lay off some 150 employees before the 2009-2010 school year, according to Ken Siver, deputy superintendent for the district.
– Four South Redford teachers will be told they will be laid off for the 2009-10 school year as part of a budget reduction program to deal with an anticipated $1,185,759 budget shortfall.
– BOULDER, Colo. — In response to a recession that has hit medical providers across the country, Boulder Community Hospital is cutting expenses and hoping voluntary staff departures will help it avoid layoffs while maintaining top-notch care.
– By a 4-2 vote, the City Council agreed to lay off the remainder of its already downsized staff, saying development was not generating enough fees to support it.
Mike: More people out of work equals more crime, but cities don’t seem to get the connection. Layoff some administrators or contractors for a couple years, but keep the police and protective services intact – you will need them…
– KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A broadcast report says cuts to the Kansas City budget could take as many as 100 police officers off the street.
– The University of Washington will eliminate about 1,000 employee positions — including a yet-to-be-determined number of layoffs — by the beginning of May, the school’s president said Tuesday.
– PITTSBURGH (AP) — ArcelorMittal SA, the world’s largest steel maker, plans to idle a plant in Indiana and lay off about 400 workers due to global economic turmoil that has dampened demand for the metal.
– The Chronicle has reached a tentative agreement with a major union that could allow for the elimination of more than 80 driver positions as part of the newspaper’s campaign to cut costs in order to stay afloat.
– The company said it eliminated about 10 percent of its jobs, placed some workers on short weeks, and cut down on spending to cope with challenging economic conditions. It is also looking to end some supply chain contracts it signed late last year.
At the end of 2008, Lufkin employed about 3,000 people.
– MOORESVILLE — UST Inc., which was bought by Altria Group Inc. in January, said yesterday that it was eliminating 74 jobs at its operations at 124 Bandit Lane in Mooresville.
– The company also said it cut 25 jobs in recent weeks, in addition to reducing its worldwide headcount by 17 percent to about 285 employees at the end of last year.
– Russell Athletic, once a dominant Alabama company and a huge employer, has said it plans to close an Alexander City plant and eliminate the 250 jobs there.
– Reed Business Information is to cut 7% of workforce, including around 15 staff at Variety magazine, a week after long-time editor Peter Bart was moved aside after 20 years running the venerable Hollywood trade title.
– HERNANDO – Kawneer officials said Tuesday that 250 employees at the Kawneer aluminum manufacturing facility in Hernando will lose their jobs when the plant closes in June.
– SHELBY — Bernhardt Furniture said Monday that it plans to close a plant in Shelby by June 12, cutting more than 100 jobs, unless there is a dramatic change in furniture sales.
– POCATELLO, Idaho — Administrators at Idaho State University plan to lay off 73 employees because of a $17 million shortfall expected during the next fiscal year.
– All 31 University employees who were scheduled to be laid off by June 30 have now been informed of their termination, according to an e-mail sent by top administrators to faculty and staff Tuesday morning.
– WICHITA – Hawker Beechcraft’s new chairman and CEO told employees Tuesday that more layoffs are in store as the planemaker reduces its production rates this year and next.
Bill Boisture, who replaced Jim Schuster last month, said in a memo that work force reductions will extend across all levels of the company and will occur in stages throughout the year.
– About 50 people lost their jobs this month at Gentex Corp., a company spokesman said. The Simpson contractor has laid off about 100 employees since the beginning of the year.
– The latest law firm layoff announcement hit five offices of Seattle-based Perkins Coie this week with the cut of a dozen associates and 26 nonlawyer staffers.
– SPOKANE, Wash. — Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane will eliminate about 90 jobs, adding to what is already the highest unemployment rate in Spokane County in years.
– CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Raleigh County electronics manufacturing plant is closing at the end of the month, leaving about 40 employees without jobs, a company official said this week.
– CAMBRIDGE – Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences faces a projected recurring annual deficit of $220 million within two years if it does not cut spending substantially and reshape its academic ambitions, Michael D. Smith, the group’s dean, warned yesterday.
– The move will mean closing the company’s current headquarters on Soldiers Field Road in Boston and reducing the company’s staff by 12 to 15 employees.
– In reports the carriers file with the Surface Transportation Board, the railroads said that as of mid-month they employed 156,997 workers, down 2,500 or 1.58 percent from a month earlier. That was also 6,100 workers fewer than at the same point in 2008, for a 3.74 percent year-over-year drop.
– BUFFALO LAKE, MN — A high level of arsenic in the well water of a beef slaughtering facility here has forced the plant to close, costing more than 200 workers their jobs, according to an April 15 Star Tribune article.
– Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, yesterday launched a job optimization and regrouping program to reduce labor costs in China.
Under the program, the company plans to relocate some of the mid-management staff at its stores to similar posts in the new stores that are being opened in China.
– HONG KONG, April 15 (Reuters) – Japanese brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) has cut another 50 investment banking jobs in Asia, excluding Japan, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday
– BRUSSELS (AFP) — US aluminium maker Aleris, in bankruptcy protection since February, has informed unions of plans to cut 770 out of 1,500 jobs at a plant in northern Belgium, local media reported Wednesday.
– Xilinx, a Dublin-based technology firm, is to make more than a quarter of its workforce redundant over the next nine months due to the outsourcing of some operations from Ireland.
– THE communications union says 2000 jobs may be lost from Telstra before the end of June as the company steps up redundancies ahead of chief executive Sol Trujillo’s departure.
– Trowers & Hamlins has made a third round of job cuts since the start of the year, with 17 fee earners and support staff laid off from the firm’s London office.
– VIENNA, April 15 (Reuters) – Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine (VOES.VI) said on Wednesday it will cut working hours for thousands more of its staff as the global downturn cripples demand for steel.
– BUDAPEST, April 15 (Reuters) – Hungarian steel maker Dunaferr, one of Hungary’s biggest employers, said on Wednesday it would lay off 400 workers and offer early retirement to several hundred more to survive the financial crisis.
– IN A further economic blow for Kerry it has been announced that car component manufacturer Beru is seeking 20 voluntary redundancies at its Tralee plant.
– The top of the complete ranking–which, for ease, we have broken down into the two smaller lists, of the best big and small cities for jobs–is dominated by one state: Texas. The Lone Star State may have lost a powerful advocate in Washington, but it’s home to a remarkable eight of the top 20 cities on our list–including No. 1-ranked Odessa, a small city in the state’s northwestern region. Further, the top five large metropolitan areas for job growth–Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth and Dallas–are all in Texas’ “urban triangle.”
– More than 2 dozen new jobs are headed to central Nebraska. Governor Heineman Tuesday awarded a $406,000 grant to Covenant Doors and Millwork Incorporated in Central City.
Tomorrow brings the all important Jobless Claims report, which is expected to show jobless claims rising slightly form last week to 658,000. Till then.…………………
Mike: Hello to all and thanks for visiting. The Layoff List this Tuesday. A busy Tuesday afternoon for layoffs and economic reports.
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Mike: While the following story (Nurse called out of surgery and laid off) is one of those sensational stories that the news media loves to blast, it is amazing that the person who laid off the nurse wasn’t laid off! The nurse was likely qualified to do her job, but the bozo that pulled her from surgery sure isn’t qualified to do their job. It’s another one of those instances where the productive worker gets laid off while the clueless remain on the job. After all, the clueless aren’t about to lay off the clueless, since the clueless pose no threat to their positions.
The conversation may have gone like this:
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Clueless Manager: Opens operating room door and demands “Doctor, have Nurse Jones come out into the hall immediately, so I can give her some information.” Doctor: We’re just about to stitch this guy up, so can’t that information wait until the surgery is completed? Clueless Manager: No, I’m sorry, doctor, but this is vital information that can’t wait until your patient is stitched back together. Send her out here now, or I’ll have you written up for insubordination!. Doctor: Nurse Jones, stop looking at this guy’s vital signs. No, don’t worry about the intravenous tubes, just get out into the hall and see what Clueless Manager wants. Clueless Manager: Nurse, I have to tell you that you are laid off. Sorry I had to tell you now, but I need to go to lunch and I didn’t have time to wait for you to finish your surgery shift. Thank you. Goodbye. Oh, by the way, I’m going to Guido’s Italian for lunch. Is their veal french better than their chicken parm?
MADISON, Wis. – A Dean Health System nurse was called out of surgery so a manager could tell her she was being laid off.
Dean Health says the surgery was minor and the patient wasn’t affected, but the manager who summoned the nurse from surgery violated medical protocol.
– President Barack Obama on Tuesday told Americans to brace for “more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain” in 2009, saying the recession isn’t over yet despite some early promise from the government’s massive spending on bailouts and economic stimulus.
– WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Confidence among U.S. small businesses was stuck at 35-year lows in March, with employers stepping up layoffs even as the recession-hit economy shows some signs of improving, according to a survey.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said in a survey released on Tuesday that its index of small business optimism fell 1.6 points to 81.0 from February, the second-lowest reading in the organization’s 35-year history.
– The employees left the 370-strong division because they were fed up with being the target of popular anger. In some cases, children were harassed and clubs asked AIG staff to leave, according to the boss of the financial products arm, Gerry Pasciucco. “It doesn’t surprise me that some senior people said ‘you know what, I’ve had enough’,” said Pasciucco in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
– Using that methodology, Citigroup Inc CEO Vikram Pandit made $38 million in 2008, compared with the roughly $11 million reported in the company’s compensation section in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Citigroup collected $45 billion in government bailout funds in 2008.
Producer Price Index,Retail Sales: April 14 (Bloomberg) — Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in March for the first time in three months, raising concern the biggest part of the economy may falter once again heading into the second quarter.
– WASHINGTON (AP) — Businesses slashed their inventories for a sixth straight month in February as they tried to cope with a steep recession.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that business inventories dropped 1.3 percent in February, matching the January decline and close to the 1.2 percent fall that economists had expected.
– MANATEE COUNTY – About 75 one-year contract teachers and teaching assistants will be looking for work this summer because their contracts were not renewed by the Manatee County School District.
– BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s budget is approved with a 6 to 3 vote, but with the approval comes job cuts for city workers. Bloomington City Manager David Hales says 40 to 60 city workers will be laid off in order to help balance the budget.
– The college cut will 70 jobs, phase out its nursing program over several years and suspend admissions to several graduate education courses in the coming semester to make up for a $6 million budget shortfall under the state’s new budget.
– Administrators say the district will have to eliminate more than 200 teachers, custodians and campus supervisors in order to offset a 15-million dollar budget deficit.
– Michelin North America said Monday it will permanently close its BFGoodrich Tire plant in east Alabama because of declining demand, a move that will cost about 1,000 jobs.
– NEW YORK (Reuters) – Discover Financial Services (DFS.N), the fourth-largest U.S. credit card network, will cut 500 jobs, or 4 percent of its workforce, in May, hurt by mounting credit losses, the company said on Tuesday.
– KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hallmark Cards Inc. on Tuesday said it will cut its U.S. work force by up to 8 percent as the nation’s largest greeting card-maker struggles with falling sales.
The Kansas City-based company told employees it will lay off between 550 and 750 of its 9,200 full-time U.S. employees over the next six months.
– The plant now employs only 38 production workers. But as Zollner Piston, the company employed more than 1,200 in its heyday and was the namesake of the Fort Wayne Pistons basketball team that later became the Detroit Pistons.
– About 20 people were laid off by Lightning owner OK Hockey, including Matt Hitchcock, who played ThunderBug. That brings the number of layoffs this year to about 27. Not hugely surprising given the state of the economy, but noteworthy nonetheless.
– As part of a widespread and deep cost-cutting effort, ArvinMeritor Inc. laid off 250 people in February and March, including 100 at the company’s light-vehicle business.
– Brenda Stenta, Essar Steel Algoma Inc.’s manager of corporate communications, says the number of employees on indefinite layoff, as of Sunday, had reached 600 — an increase of about 100 layoffs from the previous week.
– MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Co. plans to combine its agricultural equipment division and its commercial and consumer equipment unit, resulting in the elimination of about 200 salaried jobs.
– A subsidiary of Gardner Denver Inc., a manufacturer of industrial equipment, will consolidate one of its divisions in Monroe, a move that will quadruple the number of jobs the company has in the Louisiana city.
– Canada-based Quebecor World Inc. has notified state officials that the commercial printing company is closing its Memphis facility and as many as 111 workers will lose their jobs. The facility is at 828 E. Holmes Road.
– The privately owned firm, which says it has about $100 million in annual revenue, eliminated 50 of the company’s 350 jobs. The laid-off workers were primarily in marketing, said Mike Hoch, vice president for marketing.
– The implosion of one of America’s leading regional dailies continued Monday with the revelation that The Chicago Tribune will cut its newsroom staff by 20%, or roughly 90 employees, over the next couple of weeks.
– North Country Health Services announced it will extend wage reductions to its approximately 170 non-union staff members. These individuals will receive a 4 percent cut in pay effective early May 2009.
– Raven Industries, Inc. (RAVN: News ) said on Tuesday that over the past two weeks, it has reduced staffing levels by 29 employees in its Applied Technology Division, located in Sioux Falls. This cut represents 4% of the company’s Sioux Falls employee base and 3% of its total base.
– TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Qantas Airways said Tuesday it is cutting its fiscal 2009 earnings expectation by as much as 80% and plans to lower its flying capacity, reduce spending and eliminate up to 1,750 jobs in response to a major slump across the air travel industry.
– SINGAPORE (AFP) — Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS said that 240 jobs will be cut from its wealth management division in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a cost reduction exercise.
– SOUTH Africa’s largest textile and clothing group, Seardel, has announced what could be only the first round of retrenchments at the company, which will leave 1400 workers without jobs.
– April 14 (Reuters) – Philippines-focused nickel miner Toledo Mining Corp Plc (TMC.L) said on Tuesday it stopped all capital expenditure beyond necessary maintenance during the quarter ended March 31 and cut more than 600 jobs at its Berong nickel mine.
– Finnish wood-processing group UPM-Kymmene said in a statement Tuesday it had decided to end plywood processing operations at its Lahti mill in southern Finland with the loss of some 110 jobs.
– April 14 (Bloomberg) — Qimonda AG’s Portuguese unit, which last month filed a declaration of insolvency, said it’s reducing its workforce to 1,000 and suspending the contracts of 800 of the remaining employees for six months.
– HELSINKI, April 14 (Reuters) – Finnish papermaker UPM-Kymmene (UPM1V.HE) said on Tuesday it would cut 110 jobs and temporarily lay off 320 more staff due to “further weakened” plywood market conditions.
– General manager Sam Lee said rumours Snow Park, in the Cardrona Valley near Wanaka, would not open this season were false, but the business would be scaled back after visitor numbers dropped 30 per cent last season.
– DRS Technical Services will receive approximately $1.2 million in state grants if the defense contractor is able to create 100 new jobs in Pasquotank County and then keep them for nine years, state officials announced Monday.
– The Arizona Department of Transportation reported that all 41 state highway projects paid for with money from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package will generate an estimated 6,020 jobs. The five projects in Maricopa County will generate 2,180 direct jobs, ADOT says.
– LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) – New tax credits for battery makers have brought four companies to Michigan, with a combined investment of more than $1.7 billion.
Four projects have been approved by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority. One is contingent on another tax credit being passed by Michigan’s Legislature. Those projects will create more than 6,600 jobs in the state. The batteries produced will be used in next generation electric and hybrid vehicles.
– In preparation for its peak season, which generally runs from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, Sunriver Resort is planning to hire as many as 250 seasonal employees and has eliminated the international hiring program it relied on to fill as many as 85 seasonal jobs a year since 2006.
– HOLLAND – Johnson Controls, the Holland area’s largest employer, will invest $220-million in a new lithium ion battery facility here, bringing 500 new jobs. The plant should be open in 18 to 24 months, pending state and federal approvals.
Mike: Thanks for visiting The Layoff List on this Easter weekend. The post will be rather short, since there is little in the way of layoff news and economic reports this day.
Let me start with some news from Thursday (revised for clarity from an earlier post):
Yesterday brought some slight improvement to the Jobless Claims number and along with a better than expected earnings number from Wells Fargo, the pundits were again trumpeting that the worst is over. A slight improvement in the Jobless Claims report is good news, but I’ll wait for a little more proof before singing “happy days are here again.” Here is my point, so I don’t sound like a doomsayer:
Banks are trumpeting the fact that home refinancing and new home mortgages are booming due to lower interest rates. With banks getting federal money at 0% interest, they can offer decent mortgage interest rates to the consumer, which is good, especially for refinancing. Paying less for a mortgage puts more money in your pocket for other needs and wants. But buying a new home at these lower rates may not be the great deal it appears to be on the face of it. First I’ll post the good news:
Adding to the optimism, Bank of America Corp., written off as a “zombie bank” not so long ago, said it, too, will have good news to report. CEO Kenneth Lewis said his bank’s mortgage business, especially including new home purchases, “is on fire.” Wells Fargo said much the same thing, only more soberly. One-quarter of its new mortgages, according to its statement, were from home purchases rather than refinancings.
“This is certainly encouraging for the industry,” says Joe Morford, a bank analyst with RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco.
Ok, so that’s good news, but if you listen to Meredith Whitney you may gather that buying a new home now will cost you later. Ms. Whitney has been one of the few pundits that have accurately called the financial crises to this point, so I’ll continue to follow her advice until she’s proved wrong:
She also said she expected home prices to fall another 30 percent, contrary to some predictions that housing may have bottomed.
“Home prices cannot bottom while liquidity is still contracting from the economy,” she said. She did say that large banks should benefit from low mortgage rates and refinancing.
The following video present Ms. Whitney’s view on a number of important financial matters, including housing. A housing rebound won’t be possible without a jobs rebound:
So although the worst may be over for the banks and mortgage rates are attractive, the economy is not currently creating the jobs necessary to sustain a full and vibrant recovery. Once this blog’s title changes to The Hiring List, I’ll feel comfortable saying the worst is behind us 🙂
Steve Breen - Apr 10
* Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:
– It’s not like we didn’t see this one coming: Microsoft and Google are apparently chomping at the bit in an attempt to make a search-advertising deal with Twitter, AllThingsD reported Thursday.
“Many think Twitter’s real-time search of its 140-character ‘tweets’ posted by users on the service will become the next great battlefield in search,” AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher wrote. Indeed, Twitter’s search has been front and center since it acquired third-party search app Summize and integrated it into its own site. “Google currently dominates the general search market, with third-place Microsoft struggling to get more share.”
– This year, the unpalatable economy has piled Kwoka’s plate with more cancellations than customers. Four large corporations that in past years hired Kwoka to prepare private meals have backed out, leaving him with a single company to cook for, not enough to justify hiring the usual 30 extra workers. Kwoka estimates the cancellations cost him more than $70,000, and the temporary staff are missing out on big money, too.
– Chicago – U.S. technology firms announced plans to cut 84,217 positions during the first quarter, the largest quarterly job-cut tally for the sector since 2002, according to a new report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Tech sector job cuts were nearly five times higher than the 17,345 cuts announced during the same period a year ago.
– Manchester, NH (AHN) – A statewide job fair in a New Hampshire university was cut short Thursday after 10,000 job seekers overwhelmed organizers and traffic backed up for miles from the school’s jam-packed parking lot.
– SALT LAKE CITY — The 4th Street Clinic says it’s being forced to cut health care programs for the homeless in the Salt Lake Valley. Now those who run the clinic are scrambling to catch patients before they fall through the cracks.
The reason for the cuts is not a surprise: fewer donations due to the bad economy. What is surprising is how many people benefited from the programs.
– More Americans 55 and older are working longer, and those who are looking for jobs face a technologically transformed market where potential employers may deem them overqualified.
Mike: If the government is looking to create high tech jobs, here’s the perfect reason to do so quickly:
– SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Cyber-spies hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service, exposing potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities in the national infrastructure, a former U.S. government official said Wednesday.
– More than $56 million in annual payroll income – directly supporting the Southern Tier’s housing market, tax base and businesses – could vanish on the shifting political winds of Washington.
Mike: I’m continually astonished by the number of schools that now require a police presence in order to conduct daily activities peacefully and securely. Another fine example of how the inmates are running the asylum.
– For hours, board members questioned the wisdom of spending millions of dollars on his initiatives, including a school police force, while cutting 340 employees, more than 200 of them custodial workers.
In the end, the board approved by a 7-2 vote the $875 million budget Cash recommended, including $20 million in new or continuing programs, leaving Cash with the impression that while he won this battle, there are others ahead.
– The Marana Unified School District governing board voted Thursday to cut 133 teaching, administrative and support positions in response to anticipated funding cuts.
– Like we first reported, the City of Hoboken is carrying through with their planned layoffs of just under ten percent of the city’s municipal workforce, including cuts which will lay off police officers and City Hall workers.
A total of 21 layoffs and 20 demotions are scheduled to occur in the next few months, said Hoboken Corporation Counsel Steve Kleinman today.
– NEW YORK (AP) — Diversified health care products company Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it will cut about 900 jobs, mainly from its Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit.
The cuts include a mix of attrition and hiring freezes. They are part of the company’s strategy to trim its U.S. sales force and refocus its approach in the market, according to Kara Russell, spokeswoman for the Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit.
– EVERETT — The Boeing Co. will reduce its production rates for its 777 jet in 2010, making more layoffs likely, the company said Thursday.
Due to dwindling demand, the aerospace giant said it will reduce its monthly deliveries of the 777 to five from seven in June 2010. The company also will delay a plan to increase production on its 747-8 and 767. No change is being made to 737 production rates in Renton.
– The C-17, including manufacturing and support workers, accounts for about 1,000 of the 3,200 jobs at Vought’s main west Dallas plant on Jefferson Street. Vought produces the tail section, the nacelles that enclose the four huge jet engines and other components at that facility.
– Railpower, which remains under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada), said it is reducing its workforce to 39 employees from 78 as its ability to continue as a going concern is uncertain.
– MADISON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — Massey Energy Company is hoping that pay and benefit reductions, along with some reductions in its workforce will help the company’s overall outlook.
– USAA will move 75 employees between June and September to its Colorado Springs regional office from call centers it is closing in California and Virginia, the San Antonio-based financial-services giant said Thursday.
– CB&I on Thursday laid off 80 employees, most of whom are welders and others involved in construction for industrial projects at the company’s Island Park manufacturing area in Beaumont.
– Jeff Howard, publications manager with the Edmonton-based heavy equipment dealer, confirmed on Thursday that 23 employees at Finning’s Centre of Excellence in Red Deer lost their jobs this week.
– The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington announced Thursday that it had eliminated 14 positions at the museum and its College of Art + Design, and a total of 18 jobs over all this month.
– BT is preparing to axe another 10,000 jobs. The huge redundancy programme will be announced next month alongside a horrendous set of year-end figures that will include provisions of about £1.5 billion.
– ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss bank UBS will announce more job cuts soon, with staff in Switzerland and departments like marketing to be hit hard, newspapers reported on Sunday. Citing several unnamed sources, the Sonntagszeitung newspaper said managers had already started telling their staff about job losses, with departments like marketing and support functions hardest hit.
– According to the statement, these divisions employed about 1400 workers.
“Consultations with the trade union SA Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) on behalf of the respective bargaining units, and individual employees who are not represented by the respective bargaining units, have begun,” Seardel said. The SA textile industry had been under “tremendous pressure for a number of years”.
– Rail freight firm PKP Cargo’s management board is drafting a voluntary redundancy program that could encompass as many as 4,000-5,000 employees. The estimated cost of the project is zł.220-250 million.
– FLIGHT Centre managing director Graham Turner says more staff will go at the travel agency, despite predicting the worst of the economic slowdown has passed.
Australia’s largest travel agency has forecast annual profit to fall by more than two-thirds because of a slump in air travel.
– Virgin Mobile USA today announced drastic cuts to its prepaid monthly calling plans, introduced an SMS-only plan, and announced that it will cover the phone costs for its jobless
– The Detroit News reported Friday that the company is planning to hire 250 workers in its wind turbine assembly plant opening later this year in Novi, Michigan.
Mike: Hello to all and thanks for visiting The Layoff List. Today proved to be about the quietest day in weeks, if not months, for layoff announcements, especially larger ones. Tomorrow’s Jobless Claims will give us a good indication of jobless trends. The consensus is for jobless claims to fall slightly to 664,000. From this viewpoint, it seems like the larger layoff announcements are slowing, but there are plenty of the smaller layoffs (<500) still being announced with regularity. We’ll know more tomorrow at 8:30 EDT.
If you know of any layoff announcemetns that this blogger has missed, and there are plenty, please pass them along and I’ll post them. Also, if you have news of any impending layoffs or companies that are hiring, be sure to send them along so others can be aware of those plans. You can post your information in the comments area, or send me a note at mike@layofflist.org. Thanks………..
Onto the news of the day:
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* Larger layoff announcements and important economic reports:
– With the recession forcing corporations and institutions to cancel projects, technology suppliers are eyeing the economic-stimulus package as an elixir to keep revenue flowing. It earmarks more than $100 billion that could be spent on information technology, according to research company IDC.
Mike: MBA Purchase Application increases were getting large headlines over the last month or so, but today barely a whimper. Not sure why, but maybe it’s because the applications are mostly for refinancing and not new homes.
Mortgage applications filed last week rose a seasonally adjusted 4.7%, increasing even as interest rates charged on home loans experienced an upturn from the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
– A radically updated Pentagon spending plan announced Monday would cut off new orders of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet this year, jeopardizing thousands of Connecticut jobs that depend on the program.
Mike: Below is another one of those master strokes of genius from government decision makers. It struck me as being comparable to laying off firemen when arson is increasing or dumping police officers as crime spikes. Oh, wait, they are doing that………….
– LANCASTER, Ohio — More newly jobless people are seeking help from the Fairfield County Job and Family Services office, but there will be fewer workers to respond and longer waits.
The agency is laying off 42 workers and leaving 10 more jobs vacant. The cuts eliminate about 20 percent of the staff.
– Looking to plug a $44 million shortfall in its nearly $1 billion proposed budget, the Newark school district will close two middle schools and eliminate more than 50 central office jobs.
-Bishop says a total of 58 people will be let go. Of those, 22 are what are called professional positions, including the 15 teaching positions. The remaining 36 are classified and administrative positions. Bishop says she can’t tell us the specific positions because it would identify those employees.
– More than 120 teachers and staff will be notified that they won’t return next year after the Deer Valley Unified School District governing board approved layoffs Tuesday night
– Sixteen Nampa city employees lost their jobs Tuesday after city leaders determined a significant workforce cut was the most responsible way to address declining revenues.
– The city will cut one full-time dock attendant, which is the second staff cut since last summer. Overtime pay, which amounted to $6,000 last year, has been eliminated
– The Scottsdale school board laid off almost 250 teachers, administrators and staff during an emotional board meeting Tuesday that brought some administrators and board members to tears.
– Crane Elementary School District has mailed out reduction in force (RIF) letters to 14 probationary teachers notifying them the district will not renew their contracts for next year, according to an official.
– Hit by the housing crisis and economic downturn, Portland-based Hampton Affiliates will lay off about 275 employees at its Oregon and Washington sawmills — including 85 in Tillamook — as a result of a reduction in operating hours.
– Citing a downturn in the lumber market, officials at the Portland, Ore.-based Hampton Affiliates announced this week that they plan to cut production and lay off 43 percent of the sawmill and planer mill employees at the Darrington operation.
– Philips Electronics North America has told state regulators that it plans to relocate its manufacturing and customer service operations at its Invivo Corp. business in Pewaukee, resulting in the permanent termination of 50 employees beginning in June.
– The plant will continue operating until June 30 “as we work with the 59 local team members to assist them with the transition,” the company said in a news release.
– About 100 sales support positions in stores across the country are being eliminated, and 31 jobs have been cut in a reorganization of marketing, public relations, advertising, creative services and production.
– Officials at Dean Health System (DHS) announced today approximately 90 positions currently held by staff within the organization will be eliminated. This represents less than 2% of the total staff. The affected positions are in both patient care and non-patient care areas.
– Facing a budget shortfall of $60 million this year, Nemours officials will eliminate about 325 positions at its clinics and offices in Orlando, Jacksonville and Pensacola, as well as a hospital in Wilmington, Del., and clinics in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The foundation currently employs about 4,400 people.
– Procter & Gamble Co. says it is cutting about 90 jobs at a plant in the central Puerto Rican town of Cayey that makes Olay skin care products and Vicks cold medicine.
– Aurora-based Wagner Equipment Co., a dealer of Caterpillar heavy equipment, said Tuesday it would cut just under 10 percent of its workforce. “Despite our vigorous effort to avoid a staff reduction, due to current economic conditions we regretfully have to reduce our employment by approximately 140 people,” the company said in a statement.
– Uncertain economic times have resulted in staff reductions at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Chamber officials said yesterday that nearly a fifth of its 58 employees are out of jobs due to a falling membership roster, event participation and sponsorship brought on by the failing economy.
– AUBURNDALE – The closing of the International Paper Company plant in Auburndale and the elimination of the 96 jobs there is a significant blow to the city, a community business leader said Monday.
– RTS Packing became the latest to join the list Tuesday with confirmation the company has shut down its Litchfield plant at a cost of more than 50 jobs. Workers already were removing equipment this week.
– A Franklin automotive supplier bruised by lagging sales plans to halt production in two months, putting 87 employees out of work.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Climate Control said in a state filing today that it will stop making automotive air conditioning parts June 7 and will not resume production until demand picks up.
– WEST CHESTER TWP. — Poor business conditions continue to take a toll on local steelmaking operations as AK Steel confirmed about 300 workers are still on layoff at Middletown Works.
– WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Raley’s here said it laid off an undisclosed number of employees Monday in its corporate operations, primarily in the areas of facilities and construction.
– The Timmins Times has learned that roughly 130 contract worker layoffs are occurring at the Xstrata Nickel Montcalm Mine in Timmins as the result of what the company says is “an unplanned ground fall.”
– Greenheck Fan Corp. announced today it is laying off 37 office employees at its Schofield facility, citing declining non-residential construction in the country and globally.
– Dawn Food Products told employees Tuesday that it plans to close its doughnut-making plant in Ossian on June 30. The decision means a loss of 59 area jobs.
– PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC announced it plans to eliminate as many as 9,000 positions globally, affecting some 1,250 jobs at Citizens Financial Group in the United States.
– TOKYO — Sharp Corp. Wednesday forecast a deeper net loss for its fiscal year ended March 31 citing restructuring costs and an additional securities valuation loss, and said it would cut 1,500 temporary jobs.
– Sharp Corp. (TYO:6753) have forecast a much deeper loss for its fiscal year than they first thought for the year ended March 31. The electronics giant were citing restructuring costs as well as an additional securities valuation loss, Sharp also announced that they will be cutting 1,500 temporary jobs.
– VIENNA, April 8 (Reuters) – Austrian fireproof materials maker RHI (RHIV.VI) said on Wednesday it would cut 1,000 jobs worldwide in 2009, as part of a cost-cutting programme to save around 80
– Whirlpool Corp (WHR.N) said on Tuesday it would close its washing machine manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, eliminating 600 jobs, as the appliance maker consolidates its Chinese operations.
– More than 100 jobs face the axe at the NEC Group following a dramatic slump in revenue from exhibitions as the economic downturn bites.
The West Midland group, which runs the NEC, ICC, LG Arena and NIA, confirmed the job cutbacks and warned the short-term outlook for the exhibitions and conference market was “poor.”
– More than 160 staff at manufacturing giant Perkins Engines, in Eastern Industry, have been told they are at risk of compulsory redundancy as the firm seeks to make cost savings.
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– http://www.usajobs.gov/, the official job website for the United States Federal Government, is listing over 47,000 jobs openings across the country, and hundreds and possibly thousands job openings in Utah
– It would add 98 jobs to a county which has a 16.9 percent unemployment rate (2,473 people looking for work in February, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission).
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