Screwed: 830 in Finland

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 1,149

UPM-Kymmene Corp. said Tuesday it will let go 830 people and close mills in Finland…CRO Charles River Laboratories will shut its facility in Shrewbury, Mass., and lay off 300…Briggs and Stratton, a gas engine plant in Auburn, Ala., will cut 19 jobs…

Making Your Hometown Feel New

Why get out of Dodge when you can recreate Dodge? There are people you haven’t met, tourist traps you haven’t considered, road configurations you haven’t taken—and at the end of the day, it’s a fine place to live. And it’s up to you to make it so.

Since the start of the recession in 2007, Americans’ overall mobility—that is, the number of people who moved from one state to another—has dropped to its lowest levels since WWII, according to the Brookings Insitution. That’s because picking up and moving just isn’t as simple as it used to be. With unemployment rates still at record highs in many parts of the country and real estate troubles forcing homeowners to stay put while they wait to find a buyer, it’s hard for people to move to wherever it is that they want to be…

The New Year’s Second-Hand Shopping Guide

In New York, frugal women know about Encore, the consignment shop where Jackie O. famously sold all of her unwanted clothing for extra cash. And since the recession hit, such stores have seen consigners come out in discreet droves to pare their closets and pad their wallets.

What you may not know is that holiday time is the best time for closet cleaning — which means that the start of the year is prime for scoring bargains. And most of America doesn’t think to resell Grandma’s Chanel bag at Encore; often, great goods go straight into the hands of non-Vogue reading volunteers at charity thrift stores, who price them way below market.

Don’t believe me? Good. More cheap Valentino scarves to adorn my unemployed neck.

If you’re fashionable but poor, consider dropping the pride and checking out these four thrift shopping venues. For $3 you may be walking home in a pair of never-worn Florentine leather boots.

1. Estate Sales

The only thing sadder than the death of an elderly person is watching families hold estate sales so they don’t have to clean out closets. Luckily for the recently laid-off, you now have time to rummage through those boxes to find that pre-war handbag from Paris…

Screwed: 6,380 in Romania

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 6,808

CFR Marfa, Romania’s national rail company, plans to lay off 6,380 workers in April…Washington, D.C.’s Metro system is considering cutting 150 jobs…Pfizer is letting go 116 people in New York…Clark County, Nevada, pushed out 67 employees, mostly building inspectors…53 people will be let go from San Francisco’s transit agency…Louisiana’s college system will let go 42 workers to save money…

Recession Briefing: One in Five Men Unemployed

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

The recession and the resulting shortage of good jobs have spurred a jump in applications to law schools and a growing interest in graduate programs. (New York Times)…

One in five working-age American men does not have a job, according to the latest federal employment numbers, an all-time high that illustrates the extraordinary toll this recession has taken on male-dominated professions in particular. (Huffington Post)

The porn industry is wrestling with a recession deeper and more severe than what’s constraining the mainstream entertainment businesses. (Daily Finance)

We’re Looking for Social Media Interns!

Know the difference between a “tweet” and a “tweep”? Rabid Facebook user and constant community communicator? Talk to us about a social media internship at Recessionwire:

Recessionwire, a website featuring news, advice, perspective and humor about the recession and recovery, is seeking a marketing/social media intern to help increase brand awareness, drive traffic and expand a loyal user base…

How to Sniff Out Your Talents

Whether you’ve been laid off, hate your job or just have that uncomfortable, it’s-not-really-me feeling at work, you’ve probably faced this question recently: What the $@%# do I do with myself?

You might even feel like you haven’t managed to unearth your most special abilities. If that sounds familiar, check out this post we recently found at Skelliewag. The gist of it is that you have hidden talents, “things you could do that would make you happy. But you don’t know it yet.”

Skelliewag is talking about skills that aren’t necessarily practical, but isn’t it a great start for thinking about a career? I mean, there are people who manage to build careers out of things that my conservative grandparents would have deemed totally useless. (Personal stylist comes to mind.)

To find your new passion, write down a list and then just try stuff out. Seriously…

The Yin and Yang of Financial Stress

Balance in our personal finances is important; when place too much emphasis on any one aspect of our financial plan, we often harm our financial (and emotional) wellbeing. Strive for equilibrium in these seven key areas:

Spending And Saving.

Saving for a rainy day is extremely important; however, it must be balanced with enjoyment of the journey. If you are afraid of what your financial future might bring, focus instead on what you want your future to bring. This doesn’t mean you should spend crazily…we’re talking about balance.

Taking Risks.

On one hand, being too conservative might inhibit your ability to reach your long-term goals. This is especially true when your investment decisions (or, more typically, inaction) are fear-based. On the other hand, while investors who take too many risks may reap bigger returns, they are also setting themselves up for very big losses…

Recession Briefing: Can’t Drive 55

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Just what Americans need as they try to dig out from the Great Recession: gas prices headed back toward $3 per gallon. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline hit $2.70 on Thursday, according to the auto club AAA. That’s up 67 percent from this time last year. (Washington Post)

The decimated housing market may get considerably worse before it gets better, according to housing-industry professionals, who expect foreclosures and home-price declines to continue pressuring the sector through at least the first half of 2010. (Time)

Apartment vacancies hit a 30-year high in the fourth quarter, and rents fell as landlords scrambled to retain existing tenants and attract new ones. The vacancy rate ended the year at 8%, the highest level since Reis Inc., a New York research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets, began its tally in 1980. (Wall Street Journal)…

Screwed: 340 at Accent Marketing

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 849

Louisiana’s Accent Marketing is handing out 340 layoff notices after the loss of its major client, Boost Mobile… Anheuser-Busch considers 263 employee layoffs as Belgian beer sales fall… An additional 116 employees have been cut from Pfizer‘s Pearl River facility workforce in Rockland County… Beginning in April, Queens-based restaurant supplier Cecilware Corp. will be letting go of 80 workers… Power transmission cable production company Alcan Cable is eliminating 33 positions from its Wilbur, Ore. location… 17 members of the United Steelworkers union have been laid off from Cascade Steel Rolling Mills on the west coast…