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)…

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…

Screwed: 300 at Sykes Enterprises, Inc.

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

Today’s Total: 500

Sykes Enterprises, Inc., a Milton-Freewater, OR based call center, is laying off 300 employees due to “the cyclical nature of contracts”… Universal Music Group has laid off 50 employees across its labels and divisions… 45 positions will be eliminated at the Fort Worth, TX Star Telegram… 40 attorneys and staff are being let go from the nationwide offices of Seyfarth Shaw… North Carolina plant Pepsi Bottling Ventures is cutting 35 jobs, about 20 percent of its workforce…

Recession Briefing: African-American Unemployment Rate Tops 17 Percent

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

Unemployment for African Americans is projected to reach a 25-year high this year, according to a study released Thursday by an economic think tank, with the national rate soaring to 17.2 percent and the rates in five states exceeding 20 percent. (Washington Post)

Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their people about $145 billion for 2009, a record sum that indicates how compensation is climbing despite fury over Wall Street’s pay culture. (Wall Street Journal)

The federal foreclosure prevention program was designed to help struggling homeowners reduce their monthly payments, but housing advocates say they frequently see homeowners rejected or kept in a trial modification for questionable reasons. “There’s a real resistance on the servicers’ part to making permanent modifications,” said Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center. (ProPublica)…

Screwed: 1,000 at Suncor

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

Today’s total: 975

Calgary-based energy company Suncor will cut another 1,000 jobs after laying off 1,000 in 2009…Pfizer is slashing 450 at the former Wyeth headquarters in Upper Providence, Penn. … More than 200 city workers could lose their jobs under a new budget proposed for Tempe, Ariz….

Recession Briefing: C.E.O.’s Start Apologizing

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

Since the job market’s peak in June 2007, there are approximately 50 percent fewer job openings for the 15.3 million U.S. citizens who are officially unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Huffington Post)

As America recovers from the recession, some of the nation’s chief executives are offering that rarest of statements — an apology. But often, their words are so carefully parsed, scrubbed by lawyers or picked over by public relations professionals that it is unclear just how much mea is in their culpa. (New York Times)

The $787 billion economic stimulus package was responsible for keeping between 1.5 million and two million jobs in the economy through the end of 2009, White House economists said Tuesday. (Wall Street Journal)…

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…

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 12.31: Brits Move Back Home

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

Nearly 500,000 British adults aged 35 to 44 moved back into their parents’ home in the past year. Devastated by the recession and rising rates of relationship breakdown, many had no option but to return to mother. (Daily Mail)

Companies in the U.S. expanded in December at the fastest pace in almost four years, signaling the economic recovery is gaining speed heading into 2010. (Bloomberg)

Employers say they plan to tread carefully in the coming year, and those that are hiring say they will wait until the second half to fill jobs. (Los Angeles Times)

Screwed: 2,000-plus in Lithuania

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

Today’s Total: over

Lithuania is shutting down its only nuclear power facility, eliminating more than 2,000 jobs…Louisiana is eliminating 445 healthcare positions…