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)…

Recessionwire Turns One Year Old

What a year it has been. We have seen the he-men fall; retailers give us better discounts; the ups and downs of economic forecasts; and changes in gender balance on the home front. The world certainly feels different from a year ago, when “recession” was still cocktail-party chatter, not a serious matter of devastating losses of jobs, homes and savings. Back then, it seemed it would be a brief period of hunkering down; now, we know better.

But we see the positive, too: We’ve seen families get closer, our national savings rate improve, businesses get smarter, values re-emerge. We’ve seen individuals empowered by what they didn’t know they could do…

Recession Briefing: Crazy for Coupons

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

Coupon use has risen every quarter since the end of 2008, making 2009 the first year of rising coupon use since 1992. Last year, 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed, according to Inmar, a coupon processor that handles about half of the market and publishes figures extrapolated from its own volume. (New York Times)

When you’ve flooded the economy with trillions of dollars, mopping up is no easy task. That’s the reality the Federal Reserve is confronting as it starts to explain how it will undo the aggressive growth-supporting steps that were put in place when the economy was in its deep dive — and begins to be clearer about when that may happen. (Washington Post)

When 22 recently unemployed workers agreed to be filmed baring their souls about what it was like to lose his job, they didn’t expect millions to see their confessions in the George Clooney film Up in the Air. A year later, many of these recession victims have new jobs. (Reuters)…

Screwed: 300 at UPS

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

Today’s Total: 701

After announcing a layoff of 1,800 administrative positions, UPS may furlough as many as 300 pilots starting in May…in St. Louis, Trans States Airlines will lay off 150 service representatives and baggage handlers by April…In Tennessee, Mapa Spontex plans to eliminate 132 jobs from March 19 until sometime in June…Non-profit Adelphoi Village is closing a facility in Pennsylvania and laying off 70 workers by April…In New York, the Katonah-Lewisboro School District may lay off about 25-30 public school teachers this week, and 55 teachers in total, due to budgetary concerns about future mandatory raises resulting from teacher’s union contracts…

The American Dream is Dead–Long Live the American Dream

The American Dream is dead– and it ain’t a bad thing.

In a recent survey by Context-Based Research Group, a Baltimore consumer anthropology firm, 78 percent of respondents said they believed the AD was kaput. But they also agreed that it should be, because the dream has become defined by what you can buy, rather than by freedom and ideals.

If there’s one thing we learned in the past few years, it’s that lots of things are more important than money. So here’s some more good news: Those surveyed said they had taken steps to spend less (85 percent) and had de-cluttered their homes (61 percent). Well, now that all that stuff is gone, what’s taken its place? People…

Screwed: 1,607 in Chicago

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

Today’s Total: 2,311

Chicago Transit Authority laid off 1,607 unionized workers intheir decision to cut nine express bus lines and provide less frequent bus service…GNAC plans to eliminate 554 employees and three offices due to loan losses…In Michigan, Consumers Energy will lay off 80 unionized workers by the end of this month…

Screwed: 350 at Wal-Mart

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

Today’s Total: 1,002

Wal-Mart announced another 350 job cuts at its Arkansas headquarters after last week’s 12,700 cuts, but claims that this will be the last round…Diebold Inc. plans on laying off 250 employees in Green, Ohio…The recent acquisition of Ames Safety Envelope Co. by Tab Products Co. will lead to 150 workers without jobs…In Illinois, Maine Township High School District is eliminating 135 jobs in order to close their budget deficit…Enerplus Resources Fund cut 65 staff members, 7 percent of their workforce, yesterday in Calgary and Denver…Poinard Pharmaceuticals plans on laying off 28 employees–over half of its 50-person workforce–in Seattle and San Francisco by Friday…In Texas, Better Beverages will be laying off 24 workers on Friday due to a decision by parent company Pepsi Bottling Group to cut production in Hallettsville….Adidas America announced an unspecified number of job cuts in Portland, Oregon…

The Recession Will End… In Years, Not Months

Most Americans think we’ll be in recession for two more years. According to a new poll from Gallop/USA Today, just as many people think the recession will end in a year as do those who think it will end in five years, with the rest of the respondents falling in the middle.

Could such gloom just be the winter blues? Perhaps, but the findings are similar to those from July:

When asked in an open-ended question how long they expect it to be before the economy starts to recover, 30% now say five years or more, up from 19% in February but similar to the 28% who said so in December. Overall, 68% of Americans now expect it to take two years or more before the economy starts to recover, little changed from 71% in February. One in four (27%) now expect it to take less than two years, about the same as the 24% in February who said this.

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Screwed: Up to 4,000 at GlaxoSmithKline

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

Today’s total: 5,058

GlaxoSmithKline plans on eliminating up to 4,000 jobs from their workforce…Sony Pictures Entertainment announced that it will lay off about 400 employees to cope with declining DVD sales…Harleysville National Bank expects to cut up to 300 jobs after a merger in March…In Tennessee, First Horizon National Corp. has decided to shut down one of their departments, leaving 100 employees out of work…CBS News will hand out pink slips to up to 100 staffers next week…Fujifilm North America Corp. announced its plan to lay off 100 nonunion employees after shutting down their Texas facility…PNC Financial Services Group plans on laying off 58 IT jobs in Cleveland…