From today’s New York Times:
Many economists — concerned about the sluggish pace of job creation, dwindling housing activity and decelerating retail sales — say that slowdown is continuing this summer and have recently downgraded their expectations for the second half of the year.
Read more here.
Start-up activity, which got a boost from the recession as millions of people looked for new work opportunities or rethought their careers, is on the slide. According to a new survey by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, 3.7 percent of job seekers were looking to start something up in the first half of 2010. That’s a big drop from the 7.6 percent in the first half of 2009. That’s a low point since 1986, when the company began tracking this stuff.
What gives? It could be that more people are getting jobs and…
Two major companies announced major changes today. San Francisco bank Wells Fargo is eliminating 3,800 jobs as part of a “restructuring”–a small number compared to the 278,000 who work for the company, but big for the people who will lose jobs. More than 638 independent consumer finance offices will be closed.
Meanwhile, pharma firm Merck is closing eight plans and eight research sites, including two outposts in the US. It’s canning a whopping 16,000…
From a Sunday New York Times story on how the economic recovery has slowed down in the U.S.:
“We may have seen the best of employment for some time,” said Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust. “In general the economy is downshifting, maybe to stall speed, or just above stall.”
Ugh.
We’ll see what sort of effect the Dow bustage has on this bit of positive news, but according to polling company Gallup, the job market is back to where is was at the end of 2008.
Wait, 2008? Wasn’t that a few months after Lehman went bankrupt, Fannie Mae had to get rescued and Congress approved the $700 billion bailout? Well, yes…
The British government wants to levy a one-time, 50-percent tax on banking bonuses over $41,000. “I am giving them a choice,” said Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. “They can use their profits to build up their capital base. If they insist on paying substantial rewards, I am determined to claw money back for the taxpayer.” (BusinessWeek)
A new survey shows that employees are unhappy with the way they’ve been treated in the downturn, and many plan to quit their jobs next year. (Chicago Sun-Times)
The public thinks more highly of politicians, lawyers and insurance companies than bankers, thanks to their big bonuses and taxpayer bailouts. (Bloomberg)…
A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.
Today’s Total: 11,809
Johnson & Johnson plans to lay off up to 8,000 employees, affecting 6 to 8 percent of its global workforce…Royal Bank of Scotland will lay off 3,700 retail banking workers… 51 employees of the Fresno Bee‘s circulation department will lose their jobs…
The Onion’s video about America’s money hole (the place where we like to throw all our money, sometimes adding gasoline and a light) is funny, but dated.
Or is it?
This week on Slate’s The Big Money, Heidi Moore argues that the next entity the government needs to bail out is the government itself. …
A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.
Today’s Total: 2,222
Ashland Inc. plans to cut 1,800 positions by the end of the 2010 fiscal year… In another round of layoffs, Power-One Inc. has let go off 300 employees… True Textile plant lays off 84 workers in Elkin, North Carolina… OCI Chemical Corp. is laying off 38 workers from its soda ash plant in Wyoming…
A daily review of the unemployment fallout around the country and the world.
Today’s partial total: 3,600
Some good news: Los Angeles Unified School District is rescinding the 505 layoff notices it sent to teachers.
Russian automaker Izhavto will officially lay off half of its workers this month, or about 2,500 people. The company already stopped operations….Exelon Corp, an energy company based in Chicago, is cutting 500 jobs…Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. is cutting 400 positions…
