job loss

Safeway Skewered for Throwing 6,000 Workers Under the Bus in Video Parody

Safeway closed a whopping 72 Dominick's grocery stores resulting in 6,000 jobs lost.  They acquired Dominck's grocery chain, engaged a hedge fund, hyped up the stock price and then promptly shuttered the Illinois neighborhood grocery.  The excuse is these Dominick's grocery stores serve low profit margin geographical locations.  In other words, Safeway doesn't want to offer grocery access to poor people.

Fired America

There is a complete disconnect in Washington from the quiet desperation of American lives.   While politicians chatter talking points and claim lobbyists' agendas are somehow sane economic and labor policy, a full 23% of Americans have been fired in the last four years. 

Where are the Jobs? Offshore Outsourced of Course!

A new study by the Hackett Group, Acceleration of Offshoring Trend Driving Loss of Millions of Finance and IT Jobs in U.S. and Europe is something everyone should read if you're wondering where the jobs are.

On top of 2.8 million jobs lost from 2000 to 2010 in finance, IT, HR and procurement, The Hackett Group projects that another 1.0 million will disappear by 2014 in North America and Europe, representing a total reduction of 46% of jobs in these functions since 2000.

Economic things I learned or overheard this Memorial Day

I’m a sucker for barbeques, especially good ones.  Normally I’m not a “family” person, but I am a people person.  When it comes to barbeques, though I tend to even go to the ones my family puts out.  This year I hosted, unfortunately the weather was not on my side and being someone into risk management I decided to hold an “indoor bbq.”  The food, as always, was good, but my other type of appetite was also satisfied, my hunger for news and tid bits. 

Weekly Audit: Welfare, Work and the Bailout Bonanza

by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger

The U.S. economy lost nearly 600,000 jobs in January, bringing total losses in the past three months over 1.5 million—more than the entire population of Philadelphia. If there ever was a good time to mend the tattered U.S. social safety net, it's now. While unemployment benefits and food stamps remain relatively uncontroversial, basic welfare continues to be neglected by the general media and vilified by the right. And as of this moment, a responsible welfare program is needed more than at any point since the 1930s.

How Long, How Deep?

Two economic reports today show the deeply indebted US economy is in a decline that is likely to stretch into a recession that could be quite severe.

The BLS jobs report shows a loss of -17,000 jobs in January, an even sharper -0.3% loss in total hours worked and a decline in average weekly wages even before considering the effects of inflation. Annual revisions to data back to 1990 that are included in today’s report, shows the economy had -376,000 fewer jobs in December than previously estimated. Only 994,000 new jobs were created over the past year and of these, only 809,000 were created by the private sector.

Manufacturing Jobs - US Wages Dramatic Decline

Along with the loss of -3.3 million Manufacturing jobs over the last seven years, a report just released by the BLS shows average hourly compensation for US Manufacturing jobs fell from the world’s 4th highest in 2000 to the world’s 14th highest in 2006. Japan’s Manufacturing jobs were the 2nd highest paid in 2000 but plunged to rank only 16th in 2006.