Recession Briefing: Did Wall Street Really Cause the Crisis?

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

Satisfying as it can be to stick it to the Wall Street, and especially the traders on Wall Street who are the most avid consumers of $500 bottles of champagne, as a response to the financial crisis, they aren’t really the ones who caused it, writes Mark Gimein. (The Big Money)

Unemployment rates rose in 43 states last month, the government said Friday, painting a bleak picture of the job market and illustrating nationwide data released two weeks ago. (Associated Press)

If the revival of Depression-era drinks has begun to hit a little too close to home — not to mention the wallet — take heart. High-end cocktail bars, ones that ordinarily serve 1930s favorites like Ramos Gin Fizzes and Singapore Slings for as much as $18, are offering drink deals that speak to contemporary economic concerns. (Liquor.com)…

WIFT?

The best thing you can do if you’re looking for a job is to network and get any meeting you can. But as Phil Rosenberg points out on reCareered, it’s not all about you:

Chances are your new contact is a busy person who doesn’t have much spare time on their hands. You as a job seeker have a very real reason you want to have coffee – you want their help in finding a job at their company (What’s in it for me – WIFM). But what reason do you give your contact? What’s in it for them (WIFT)?

Exactly—WIFT?

Don’t forget that to be effective in your networking, you need to bring something to the table as well. What can you offer the other person? Do you have information or other contacts that might be valuable to them? Your meeting may simply be an act of generosity on their part, or it may serve their own goals around helping people. In other cases, you can help build your value—a key factor in getting closer to a job—by being a resource to them. Just be careful of coming across too sleazy. The scratch-my-back tack can get a little icky if you overdo it…

Recession Briefing: Obama Proposes Big Limits on Banks

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

President Obama expanded his new offensive on Wall Street on Thursday, proposing rules that would impede the growth of the largest banks and bar them from making what he called “reckless” investments. (Washington Post)

As a result of the recession, the U.S. Census Bureau finds itself with the most highly skilled, highly educated work force in its 220-year history. Nationwide, the bureau already has recruited engineers, former corporate vice presidents, college professors and radio disc jockeys to help manage the 2010 census, which will attempt to count everyone in the country beginning in March. (Coloradoan)

“Britain has eaten, drunk and smoked its way out of the recession” according to a new report on manufacturing production. (The Times of London)…

Screwed: 2,500 at Xerox

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

Today’s Total: 4,145

Xerox is planning 2,500 worldwide job cuts this year… Beginning Feb.5, 700 workers in Wayne County, MI will be given furlough every Friday… Another 585 layoffs lie in the future of the Lloyds Banking Group… Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, TN will be temporarily laying off 150 employees… In preparation for budget cuts, the Portland School District considers serving approximately 100 teachers with layoff notices…

Recession Briefing: White House Drops 5.1% in Value

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

Last year, real estate site Zillow estimated the White House was worth $308 million, based on the home’s physical attributes (132 rooms! 55,000 square feet!), historical value and housing performance in the local Washington, DC market. One recession year later, estimates put White House at a bit less: $292.5 million, a drop of $15.6 million, or 5.1 percent from last January. (Zillow Blog)

The recession hit this year’s college freshmen hard, affecting how they chose a school as well as their ability to pay for it, according to an annual nationwide survey released Thursday. Over all, students were more likely than previous freshmen to have a parent who was unemployed and less likely to have found a job that might help pay for college. (New York Times)

The lobbying industry demonstrated its resilience last year in the face of the recession and is fully expected to smash previous spending records. On Wednesday, lobbyists filed their fourth-quarter reports, offering the first glimpse at their spending totals for the year. (Huffington Post)…

Screwed: 1,450 in Iowa

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

Today’s Total: 2,701

The closing of a hog plant in Iowa owned by Smithfield Foods will mean the loss of 1,450 jobs. … Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS plans to lay off 400 workers worldwide. … Some 338 layoffs are rolling out across the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority, beginning this week. … Sitel will cut 250 workers at its Starkville, Miss., location. … Stanley Furniture Co. in Martinsville, Va., plans to lay off 200 employees. … One-third of its staff, about 50 employees, will be let go from Honolulu department store Shirokiya. … Luzerne County, Penn., will lay off 13 employees. … The Commerical Appeal newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., will cut 9 positions. …

Recession Briefing: 1 in 6 Blue-Collar Workers Laid Off

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

A new report says one of six U.S. blue collar-workers lost their jobs in the recession. The statistics for construction and manufacturing workers mirror those of the Great Depression, when one in six workers lost a job. (United Press International)

Singer Billy Bragg has threatened to stop paying taxes, and called on others to follow suit, unless the British government acts to limit bonuses paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland. (Reuters)

The suburbs are home to America’s largest and fastest growing poor population, according to a Brookings Institution report. The increase reflects continued population growth in the suburbs in addition to the aftermath of the housing bust and the longstanding woes in the manufacturing sector. (WSJ/Real Time Economics)…

Screwed: 5,700 at Peugeot Citroen

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

Today’s Total: 8,789

European car maker Peugeot Citroen has cut 5,700 French jobs… Finnish ship engine maker Wartsila Corp. plans to lay off 1,400 employees world-wide… 800 teachers of the Vancouver School Board are receiving warning letters which prepare them for the possibility of layoffs… Florida’s Broward School District will eliminate 475 jobs unless a budget cut is made… Maryland Gov. O’Malley’s proposed budget includes the elimination 0f 202 positions, 158 of which are vacant… The proposed Kansas City budget for 2010-11 includes 187 job cuts, 107 of which are vacant positions… The Charlotte Observer is laying off 25 staff in response to declining revenue…

Recession Briefing: Economist Blames Foreigners for Financial Meltdown

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

NBC’s late night fiasco has become the perfect allegory for the Great Recession. And just as with the financial meltdown, it looks like this fiasco will end with the same corporate screw-ups still in their jobs, no real change, and everything back to more or less where it was when the whole thing started. (New York/Daily Intel)

Bank robberies plunged nearly 20% last year to their lowest point in at least a decade even as Americans grappled with a deep recession and widespread unemployment. (USA Today)

Much of the fault of the financial crisis has been heaped on Wall Streeters, unscrupulous mortgage lenders and weak regulators. But in a new research paper, economist Ricardo Caballero says there is another major group of contributors to America’s monetary mess who are not getting the blame they deserve: foreigners. (Time)…

Screwed: 4,000 at Philippine Airlines

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

Today’s Total: 4,589

Philippine Airlines plans to lay off 4,000 workers to avoid bankruptcy. … In Turkey, Izmir Demir Celik Sanayi AS will cut 177 employees. … As part of a restructuring plan, Cadence Design Systems in San Jose, Calif., will lay off 120 workers. … The Moraine Berry Co. in Dayton, Oh., will see 105 employees let go as a result of a focus on digital operations. … Douglas Battery Manufacturing will cut 90 workers with the sale of its industrial battery unit in North Carolina. .. Meredith Corporation cut 45 employees. … Boeing laid off 36 employees in its NASA Kennedy Space Center location. … The Reno, Nev., fire department issued 16 layoffs on Friday. … Eight to 10 employees are expected to be laid off this week by the city of Juneau, Alaska. ..Up to 450 employees could be cut from the Des Moines school system, including 300 teachers, depending on the budget. …