Screwed: Hundreds in Phoenix

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

Today’s total: 819

Phoenix is letting go hundreds of police officers and firefighters…Time Warner Cable is canning 350 people in Colorado…more than 150 police officers in Tulsa will lose their jobs…cable maker Commscope is cutting 150 jobs in Omaha…

Downturnaround Deals: Reebok, Petco, Linea Pelle, H&R Block, Ann Taylor, The Knot

Just so you remember the importance of being frugal, each week we post online deals hand-picked for Recessionwire readers by the nice people over at Savings.com. Pass it on.

Start thinking summer shape-ups and take 20% off footwear at Reebok. (See more Reebok coupons.)

Take 10% off food and litter with no minimum at Petco. (See more Petco coupons.)…

Recession Lexicon: Layoff Lit

n./ a memoir or novel about losing a job, a house or your life savings to the recession

Well, you know it’s been a long downturn when the book publishing industry has time to put out recession-themed fiction before the economy recovers. We read the recent New York Times story about forthcoming books…

Layoffs: Now a Major Motion Picture

The first time John Wells had his script about corporate layoffs ready to go, the timing was less than ideal.

He’d been inspired by a brother-in-law who lost his job in the dot-bomb, but the economy got back on its feet pretty swiftly, and there didn’t seem to be an appetite for his movie, The Company Men.

You can see where this is going, so I’ll spare you the transition.

The mancession movie, which stars Ben Affleck (yay), Tommy Lee Jones (double yay) and Chris Cooper as smug executives who lose their jobs, finally started shooting in 2009 and is being screened at Sundance right now…

Screwed: A Possible 19,000 in New York City

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

Today’s total: up to 19,304

Mayor Bloomberg says New York City may have to lay off a whopping 19,000 workers if the governor cuts $1.3 billion in aid as he plans…ArcelorMittal will can 171 steelworkers at its tin mill in West Virginia…ITT Communication Systems is eliminating 60 jobs in Fort Wayne, Ind….book wholesaler and distributor Ingram Content Group gave 57 Tennessee employees the boot…Tower Tech in Abilene, Texas is cutting 15 jobs…

Five Surprising Ways to Stretch Your Beauty Buck

Makeup is about beauty, and that extends to the packaging. We love shiny lipstick cases that snap shut, perfect eye shadow palettes, pretty bottles and boxes.

So you might think there’s nothing beautiful about an eye shadow compact held together with duct tape or a nub of concealer mashed into a jar. But especially if you buy high-end beauty products you can save a pretty penny by squeezing every bit of use out of them.

Here are five ways to save money on your gorg-ifying regimen. And if if makes you feel better, I’ve never seen a professional makeup artist lay out a row of pristine cases to work their magic. They mix, smash, drip and re-package.

Mend your broken makeup

When I was more free-spending, a dropped eye shadow would result in some mild cussing and another $15 charged at the makeup counter. But when I was unemployed and smashed a favorite MAC powder, it seemed crazy to spend so much on a little circle of pigment. Turns out, you can fix a broken shadow with a few drops of alcohol and a few other household items.

Screwed: 11,200 at Sam’s Club (Recession’s Not Over…)

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

Today’s Total: 12,660

Wal-Mart does it big, as usual, canning a whopping 11,200 Sam’s Club employees…Ericsson is cutting 600 jobs on top of the 2,500 it has already axed…Tyson Foods is moving production of case-ready meats from the Midwest to the South and shedding 480 jobs…American Airlines plans to furlough as many as 175 pilots in the first six months of the year…

Why You Should Sell Yourself Short

It used to be called an Elevator Pitch.

In this social media age, it’s known as a Twitter resume. And it’s still a potentially powerful asset.

I don’t mean an actual tweetable resume–despite what some experts advise, it’s hard to believe that people are getting work that way. I mean a distilled version of your story. What you’re about in a powerful sentence.

It can get the attention of someone you’re meeting for five minutes. It makes you memorable. And the process of getting to that summary forces you to figure out what you really have to offer.

Make lists. Boil them down. Think in vivid, active terms..

Downturnaround Deals: Drugstore.com, Gap, Lush, Nirvana, Chegg, Weight Watchers

Every week, we post online deals hand-picked for Recessionwire readers by the nice people over at Savings.com. Pass ‘em on for good financial Karma.

Save $10 and receive free shipping on orders of $50 or more at Drugstore.com. (See more Drugstore.com coupons.)

Receive a Savings.com exclusive 12% off Nirvana Chocolates. (See more Nirvana Chocolate coupons.)…

Cashing In on Wedding Gifts

In some circles, it’s considered totally ticky-tack to give cash as a wedding gift. Well, times are tight and with people getting married later and later, couples are likely to already own not one but two sets of salad servers.

We expect cash to become more acceptable–and frankly, think it’s far preferable to some of the junk guests call “gifts.”

Deposit a Gift is a new site that seems right on trend…