Recession Briefing 12.22: No Time for Crime

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

High unemployment. More people needing government vouchers for food. Fewer owning their homes. Yet for all the signs of recession, something is missing: More crime. (Associated Press)

The recession’s jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks. (Washington Post)

A growing number of community banks that got federal bailouts are failing to pay quarterly dividends they owe to the government, including two banks that got aid after congressional intervention on their behalf. (Washington Post)…

Screwed: 820 at Autoliv

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

Today’s Total: 2,086

Autoliv, a Swedish manufacturer of seatbelts and airbags, will close four plants internationally and leave 820 people jobless… The new MTA budget passed on December 16 calls for a reduction of 700 bus operators and station agents… Fort Dodge Animal Health’s Overland Park operations will slash up to 170 workers from their payrolls… Albany International Corp. plans to axe 156 employees from a fabric manufacturing plant in Portland, Tenn… Oberon Media eliminated 100 workers… Heavy Iron studio is set to lay off up to 70 employees, about 70% of its workforce…

Screwed: 1,200 at Fujitsu

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

Today’s Total: 3,109

Fujitsu‘s plan to cut spending, including the layoffs of 1,200 people, was met with protesting and walkouts… Virginia Governor Tim Kaine proposed cutting 664 jobs to close a $3.5 billion budget shortfall… The city of Cleveland is set to hand out 260 layoff notices next week… Air Canada announced its intentions to “temporarily” lay off 255 staffers… Aveos slashed 250 aerospace machinists in Winnipeg… The Dearborn Public Schools laid off close to 200 employees last week… Aramark will hand out 118 pink slips by the end of the month… The Ash Grove Plant in Durkee, Ore. will let go of 67 workers… The Utica Community Schools Board of Education voted to axe 43 office and clerical staff members… GE confirmed its intent to eliminate two departments from a plant in Fort Edward, N.Y., and cut 32 jobs… Eaton Corporation laid off its entire 20-person credit department in the Power Quality division… All four IAC factories in Sweden will be affected due to the demise of Saab… Nahan Printing plans to cut 15% of its current staff…

Screwed: 461 at AT&T

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

Today’s Total: 1,082

AT&T plans to cut 461 Florida jobs in its land-line operation… Paul Mueller manufacturing plant is laying off between 150 and 200 production workers… ST-Ericsson will be downsizing its Swedish workforce by 150 employees… Colorado Springs will be laying off 93 city employees, with layoffs occurring this month and through next March… The Hawthorne Army Depot of Mineral County, Nevada has laid off 91 workers… Up to 50 employees of Montana’s Great Falls Clinic have been laid off… Ohio’s Highland Local Schools Board of Education is laying off 22 staff beginning Jan. 19… Integrated ad agency Mullen has handed out 15 pink slips this week at its Boston office, cutting 5 percent of its Boston workforce… Layoffs are imminent inVirginia’s Hampton Schools as they prepare for new budget cuts…

Recession Briefing 12.17: Months at the Museum

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

Admissions at the majority of art museums in the US have been holding steady through the recession — and many are dramatically on the rise. Two-thirds of museums surveyed have experienced a clear increase in visitor numbers over the past three years. (Art Newspaper)

Businesses don’t expect American consumers to return to their spendthrift ways anytime soon. They see consumers emerging from the punishing downturn with a new mind-set: careful, practical, more socially conscious and embarrassed by flashy shows of wealth. (Wall Street Journal)

Despite an official unemployment rate of 27 percent, the real jobs problem in Detroit may be affecting half of the working-age population, thousands of whom either can’t find a job or are working fewer hours than they want. (Detroit News)…

Screwed: 400 at Reynolds American Inc.

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

Today’s Total: 1,131

Reynolds American Inc. plans the layoff of 400 staff members by 2011… 140 workers have been laid off at the Eden Carpet Mill in N.C. due to the “sluggish economy”… Liberty Mutual is set to cut 125 jobs… Agrium plans the layoffs of 118 miners in southeast Idaho… The B.C. Institute of Technology anticipates the layoffs of 82 people as it tries to close a $12 million budget deficit… 75 pink slips were handed out at the GM plant in Bowling Green, Kent… SUNY Potsdam will trim 59 jobs from the payrolls as part of a $7.5 million budget cut…

Screwed: 1,000 at the Philippine National Construction Corporation

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

Today’s Total: 2,087

1,000 employees at the Philippine National Construction Corporation face possible layoffs… Dell Inc. is planning to lay off 700 workers from its plant in Malaysia, about 16% of its Malaysian workforce… Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis is cutting 200 jobs… Midtown New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue, the store’s flagship location, is handing out about 116 pink slips after the holidays… Utica Community Schools has approved 43 employee layoffs… California’s Tulare County Board of Supervisors has approved 12 worker layoffs from the county’s Resource Management Agency, effective Jan. 15… Colorado State University is planning 10 staff layoffs at its Fort Collins campus… Fresno County Public Defenders Office will lay off 6 attorneys by the end of the month, causing concern for its ability to accept cases… Alabama prison commissioner Richard Allen claimed that a budget shortfall may lead to layoffs and prison closings…

The Recession Will End… When Obama Tames the “Fat Cat” Bankers

“I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street.” (via 60 Minutes)

Well, it looks like the recession is back on. Despite comments over the weekend from Larry Summers who said that “everybody agrees that the recession is over,” there’s still that niggling problem of 10 percent unemployment. And outsized bonuses on Wall Street, which only create a further disparity between the rich and everyone else. Populist rage over the bonuses and Obama’s claim that he gives his record so far a “solid b-plus” are a sign that people are mad, and not ready to call an end to the tough times—because they’re still experiencing them…

Screwed: 14,000 at Deutsche Bahn

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

Today’s Total: 24,872

Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national raid provider, will slash 14,000 jobs over the next five years… ArecelorMittal, the world’s leading steel maker, is contemplating cutting 10,000 people in France… Cummins announced the demise of 212 Diesel Workers Union members due to falling heavy-truck sales… San Diego’s City Council approved trimming 200 positions in order to close a budget deficit… Over 140 firefighters and police officers face layoffs in Tucson, Ariz. as part of a proposed $32 million budget cut…

Screwed: Possible 25,000 at Metro AG

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

Today’s Total: 34,033

Metro AG has acquired Arcandor AG’s Karstadt deparment stores, a merger that could result in up to 25,000 layoffs… CFR Marfa, Romania’s state-run freight rail company, is set to give 6,400 employees the axe as part of “restructuring”… Nokia will slash 2,000 jobs at their Salo factory in Finland… Barclays Bank handed out 150 pink slips to retail and commercial banking workers in India last week… RJE Telecom announced 105 job cuts last week due to “economic” considerations…