Screwed: 3,100 in Texas

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

Today’s Total: 5,976

Texas legislature proposed a cost-cutting plan to close privately-run prisons, cutback in treatment and rehabilitation programs, and eliminate 3,100 state correction employees…Yesterday, Humana Inc. announced its plan to layoff 2,500 employees, 5 percent of its total workforce, by the end of this year…Cal State East Bay is considering a job-cut of 140 non-teaching staff…In California, Pajaro Valley Unified School District approved a plan to layoff 130 employees in MarchIn Pennsylvania, Moses Taylor Hospital gave pink slips to 61 workers in their first round of layoffs in 17 years…In Florida, Tampa City Hall plans on laying off 30 finance employees in the city’s budget office by next week…In Philadelphia, Kimmel Center Inc. plans on cutting 15 jobs as part of a restructured budget plan.

Screwed: 900 at Ford Motor Co.

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

Today’s Total: 1,777

The Ford Motor Co. Michigan Mustang plant is planning 900 employee layoffs… The Long Beach Unified School District will deliver 750 layoff warnings next month… Safe Air in Blenheim, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, is facing 100 job cuts… The Georgia World Congress Center has laid off 27 employees in anticipation of lower convention activity… Merck & Co. Inc is facing a 15 percent staff cut, likely brought on by its acquisition of Schering Plough… The 1,000 layoffs planned for L.A. may involve workers of L.A.X., Port of Los Angeles, and the L.A. Department of Water and Power…

Recession Briefing: A Real Teeth-Grinder

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

In the wake of the recession more people are grinding and clenching their teeth, dentists say. A new survey by the Chicago Dental Society found that 65 percent of Chicago area dentists reported seeing an increase in jaw-clenching and teeth-grinding among patients in the past year. (Chicago Sun-Times)

“The ongoing Greek financial crisis is the same kind of crisis the United States might face a few years from now if we continue to make the same kinds of mistakes the Greeks have made over the last decade,” writes Anne Applebaum. (Slate)

Experts fear that a new wave of foreclosures will hit this year as prolonged unemployment makes it difficult for millions of homeowners to pay their mortgages — and many of them aren’t likely to get much help from a federal program aimed at keeping them in their houses. (Los Angeles Times)…

Screwed: 400 in Montgomery, Alabama

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

Today’s total: 781

In the Montgomery Alabama School District, 400 jobs may be cut due to decreased funding from the state for the next fiscal year…Yesterday, New York’s St. Vincent’s Hospital laid off 300 workers in order to prevent closure…In Tulsa, Oral Roberts University announced a “rightsizing” plan to lay off 50 non-faculty positions across several departments…In another round of school budget cuts, Stafford County announced plans to eliminate 31 employees by April 1…Throughout the Jackson Health System, hospitals prepare to announce widespread layoffs today, though the numbers are still uncertain…

Recession Briefing: Courtroom Drama

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

In this time of double-digit unemployment and shrinking benefits for those who do have jobs, courts are finding it more difficult to seat juries for trials running more than a day or two. And in extreme cases, reluctance has escalated into rebellion, experts say. (Los Angeles Times)

More waves of foreclosures will keep downward pressure on home prices in parts of the U.S. over the next several years, two new studies project. The studies both conclude that most efforts to modify loans with easier terms will delay, not prevent, the loss of homes to foreclosure. (Wall Street Journal)

Over the next six months, the federal government plans to wind down many of its emergency programs for housing. Then it will become clear if the market can function on its own. People in Elkhart, Ind., are pretty sure the answer will be no. (New York Times)…

Screwed: 500 in Jordan School District

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

Today’s Total: 1,141

Utah’s Jordan School District will lay off 500 teachers and staff as well as increase class size to compensate for the decline in budget… Sacramento Transit is expected to announce a specific number of layoffs today, though 300 workers are said to be unemployed by the summer… New York’s Empire Aero Center is planning 203 layoffs by this coming May… Vestas Americas, the sales division of the Danish wind-turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems, is terminating 114 U.S. jobs…

Recession Briefing: Snow Slams Job Market

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

This month’s blizzards are battering jobs. Economists estimate that between 90,000 and 150,000 jobs could be lost in February, as the snow kept people home from work and stalled hiring during the month. (CNN/Money)

The Obama administration projected Thursday that the unemployment rate would fall this year by only a little, if at all, and would remain well over 6 percent until 2015. (New York Times)

About a quarter of the 8.4 million jobs eliminated since the recession began won’t be coming back and will ultimately need to be replaced by other types of work in growing industries, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. (Wall Street Journal)…

Screwed: 350 at Textron

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

Today’s Total: 572

In Providence, Textron Inc. plans to eliminate 350 jobs this year, shrinking their workforce by 24% since December…The Syracuse School District scaled down from a proposed cut of 400 jobs to 150 jobs for next year, and budget disputes are set for May this year…Yesterday, Dartmouth College announced layoffs of 38 non-teaching employees effective this Tuesday and then another batch in April…In Austin, Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. cut 34 jobs from its Burnett Road plant.

Recession Briefing: Less Spending on Love

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

Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they plan to spend less than $50 on Valentine’s Day this year, a new survey of adult Americans finds. One-quarter of Americans (25%) say they plan to spend nothing. (Zogby International)

New data shows that poor people face a much higher rate of unemployment than people with higher incomes. “A true labor market depression faced those in the bottom two deciles of the income distribution, a deep labor market recession prevailed among those in the middle of the distribution, and close to a full employment environment prevailed at the top. There was no labor market recession for America’s affluent.” (Time/Curious Capitalist)

The White House expects nonfarm-payroll employment to increase by an average of 95,000 jobs a month this year, suggesting the U.S. labor market will continue to heal slowly as the economy emerges from its two-year slump. (Wall Street Journal)…

Recession Briefing: Relationship Rockiness

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

Money doesn’t buy love and it doesn’t buy happiness, as we should all know by now. But money woes can certainly cause problems for couples, especially during the economic downturn. The bottom line: It’s complicated. (New York Times/City Room)

The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come. (The Atlantic)

Finding a job got much tougher last year, as the number of available openings fell by nearly one quarter. At the same time, the unemployed population soared by more than one-third, leaving more laid-off workers competing for fewer jobs. (Associated Press)…