Talk About The Job Losses! And They Are Not Slowing Down The Pink Slips! America Shutting Down!

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Big Time Job Losses And More Job Losses Coming!


The ongoing assault on jobs in the US continued unabated on Monday, with several major companies announcing planned layoffs numbering in the thousands.
Nearly 2 million jobs already have been cut so far this year

Topping the list was Dow Chemical, which announced on Monday that it would cut 5,000 full-time workers and close 20 plants next year as part of a major company reorganization.
The company also announced that it would temporarily idle 180 plants

Dow, headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is the second-largest chemical company in the world. It is the world's largest producer of plastics, including many that are used in the automotive and construction industries, two sectors in the midst of a sharp economic slump.
Dow's products are used in a wide variety of production and consumption goods and is therefore a barometer of the general state of the world economy

Dow CEO Andre Liveris said that planned cuts had been accelerated "given the deterioration of the world economy and most of our markets"

The cuts in Dow's full-time staff represent approximately 11 percent of its global workforce of 46,000. It will be temporarily idling 30 percent of its operations and cutting about 30 percent of its contract labor (6,000 jobs).
The company has not given any details on which plants will be affected

In a conference call, Liveris pledged to maintain the company's regular dividend payment to shareholders, despite the economic downturn

The announcements at Dow come less than a week after DuPont, another major chemical maker, announced cuts of 2,500

Also on Monday, 3M, a conglomerate that produces a wide variety of consumer and commercial products, said that it had already cut nearly 1,800 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008, on top of 1,000 cuts in the third quarter.
The jobs have been cut in US, Europe, and Asia

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, said it would cut about 1,400 jobs, or about 6 percent of its workforce in the US. Most of the jobs will be salaried positions at its St.
Louis headquarters

On top of earlier announced cuts of more than 1,000 salaried workers, about a quarter of the company's salaried jobs will be eliminated.
In addition, Anheuser-Busch announced that it would shed 415 contractor positions

Monday's announcements add to a bleak jobs outlook as the US enters into deep recession and possible depression. US payrolls fell by 533,000 in November, the biggest fall since 1974.
Last week, a number of major companies announced thousands of layoffs, including GM (2,000 workers), AT&T (12,000 workers), and Credit Suisse (5,300 workers)

Official unemployment is at 6.7 percent, but this vastly underestimates joblessness in the US.
In November alone, over 400,000 workers left the job market, meaning they are no longer counted as unemployed

Over the next several weeks, major industrial companies in the US are set to announce their earnings projections for the next year, and analysts expect more mass layoffs

A report in Reuters on Monday ("Wall street braced for grim views from industrials" by Scott Malone) noted, "Investors expect many US industrials to follow the lead of 3M, which on Monday set a profit target for next year that was about 12 percent lower than analysts had forecast. What will be on their mind is how General Electric, United Technologies and other manufacturers plan to ride out the deepening global recession.
More job cuts are likely to be a key theme"

A CNN report cited Bernard Baumohl, chief economist at the Economic Outlook Group: "The economy is now deteriorating with frightening speed and ferocity—it's truly horrific.
We'll see significant declines going forward"

CNN reported, "Baumohl expects December's job loss total to exceed November's 533,000 announced by the government Friday, but remain in the 550,000 to 600,000 range. He predicts the economy will have lost 3 million to 4 million jobs for the two years ending Dec.
31, 2009"

Both full and temporary employment is falling off a cliff. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that job cut announcements from US companies were the second-highest on record in November.
Temp agencies also shed over 100,000 jobs last month, the highest since figures began to be collected in 1985

And this is only the beginning. The planned massive restructuring of the US auto industry—with or without a loan from Washington—will involve tens of thousands of job losses at the Big Three alone, and these losses will ripple throughout the economy.
One analyst predicted that dealerships across the country would shed up to 100,000 jobs in response to the decline in sales at General Motors

The Conference Board, an independent research group, said on Monday that job losses in the recession could total 3 million by the middle of next year.
This represents approximately 1 percent of the total US population and more than 2 percent of the employed population

A figure of 3 million job losses is in fact a conservative estimate. Including projections for December, losses for 2008 could reach close to 2.5 million, and by all indications job cuts are accelerating.
Under these conditions, the 3 million figure could be reached some time early in the New Year

..
California out of cash – Schwarzenegger begs for billions to bail o...

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Tax the Rich! State Budget Crisis Deepens: Humanitarian Crisis Emerges
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Global Research
by Shamus Cooke
December 6, 2008

http://www. globalresearch. ca/index. php?context=viewArticle&c...

Social catastrophes are poorly expressed by statistics. A recent study by The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities revealed that 41 states are facing severe budget shortfalls for 2009. Some states are worse off than others, with California ($31.7 billion) and Florida ($5.1 billion) leading the deficit pack. In all, the 41 states are currently facing a $71.9 billion budget shortfall. The key word here is “currently,” since a similar study was conducted by the same group only three months earlier, at which time “only” 29 states were predicted to face shortfalls of a “mere” $48 billion. As the recession deepens, so will the state’s budget problems, turning this “budget crisis” into a humanitarian disaster.
Projections have already been made for a $200 billion shortfall by 2010

These deficits have already transcended the computer screen of the statistician into real suffering of the most vulnerable sections of society. In dozens of states across the country, vital services are being cut to the elderly, disabled, the poor, and recently unemployed. Teachers are being cut from schools and tuitions are rising. Workers from state construction sites are being laid off, while social service employees suffer a similar fate.
Non profits are closing their doors

Most likely, these pains only mark the beginning. Many states have a “rainy day fund” of some kind that they use to plan for such crises. These funds are already depleted, or certain to dry up quickly, with “hard decisions” now having to be made. This is especially troubling when one considers that, in many cases, state cutbacks made from the 2001 recession remained in place. Not to mention that successive presidents have successfully plundered federal social programs. The new, extraordinary state budgets that are being drawn up to address the current deficit crisis will essentially destroy the social safety net for millions of people, including access to daycare, food stamps, welfare, and basic medical services.
The fact that the federal budget is in even worse shape, and will likely choose to follow a similar route of massive cuts, makes future predictions of social calamity all but certain

The options available to states to respond to budget crises are limited since states are not allowed to run deficits; they must solve their budget problems immediately. Nearly every state government is reacting to the crisis in essentially the same way: by cutting essential services and raising “secondary” taxes (alcohol, cigarettes, gas, etc).
In reality, after spending their reserve funds, states have only two viable options: cutting spending and raising taxes

Raising taxes is counterproductive for two reasons: it can cause social unrest and it takes money out of people’s pockets who would otherwise be “aiding” the economy by purchasing things

However, there is a class of people whom this does not apply to: the very wealthy. By taxing them instead, money will not be taken out of the economy since it lays idle in banks (especially since they’ve temporarily stopped gambling in the stock market).
Also, there can be no fear of social unrest when this group is taxed, since they constitute a very, very small section of society

Rather than opting for this common sense solution, states are instead raising taxes on gas, alcohol, cigarettes, sales taxes, among other things that affect working and poor people disproportionately more than the rich, at a time when the working class is already financially desperate

And yet another grim way that states are responding to the crisis is building prisons and focusing on “law and order.
” The money spent on building these prisons will likely house many people who have recently had their social services terminated

Perhaps most disturbing about this crisis is that it could not have been planned for. In a market economy, a state’s budget depends on income generated by “market forces”, determining the ability of corporations to sell their products and employ workers. When there is a crisis in the markets— as when more goods are produced than can be bought— society as a whole is dragged down; a“glut” in the labor market emerges, followed by mass layoffs. The states cannot plan their budget, including how many services they need to provide, nor how many roads they can build, because the market is completely unpredictable.
Every projection the states made about the future was completely off: instead of building towards a better future they are destroying what had already existed

The first step in addressing the current crisis is to confront those who benefit most from the current social arrangement. It is not by accident that most corporations pay far less taxes than the average worker, while the rich continue to have their taxes lowered. In fact, according to a recent study, two-thirds of all corporations did not pay any taxes during the past year.
These same interests sparked the current crisis by not only driving down the wages of workers to the point they were unable to purchase goods, but by creating and profiting from the pyramid scheme that created the housing crisis

The vast profits made by the rich and corporations in the previous boom must be funneled back to the states and local governments to pay for the current crisis.
Because this solution is a threat to the corporate elite who control government, it will not happen merely by request

To accomplish this, a broad-based coalition is needed of working and poor people affected by the current crisis, led by the organized labor of the teachers, health care workers, and public employees, united around the demands of ending corporate bailout and for a progressive tax policy— one aimed at taxing the rich, not working people.
Such a coalition, because of the vast numbers of people it represented, would have the potential to unite all workers, both in the public and private sectors It would therefore have the strength to transform this "request" into a demand: TAX THE RICH!

Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www. workerscompass. org). He can be reached at [e-mail]


December 05, 2008 - Employers axed 533,000 jobs in November, the largest cutback in 34 years, The Labor Department's report pushes the unemployment rate to 6,7 percent - a 15 year high (Dec 5)
Category: News & Politics


The US Labor Department will release a new report that's expected to show the employment market deteriorated in November at an alarming clip on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 (AP / Paul Sakuma)


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Economy lost another 533,000 jobs in Nov
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Worst month since December 1974 brings total this year to 1,9 million

Associated Press
12-05-08

http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/28067433?GT1=43001

WASHINGTON - Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.
7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession

The new figures, released by the Labor Department Friday, showed the crucial employment market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid clip, and handed Americans some more grim news right before the holidays

As companies throttled back hiring, the unemployment rate bolted from 6.5 percent in October to 6.
7 percent last month, a 15-year high

"These numbers are shocking," said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics Advisors. "Companies are sharply reacting to the economy's problems and slashing costs.
They are not trying to ride it out"

The unemployment rate would have moved even higher if not for the exodus of 422,000 people from the work force. Economists thought many of those people probably abandoned their job searches out of sheer frustration. In November 2007, the jobless rate was at 4.
7 percent

"I'm worried about our workers who have lost jobs during this downturn," President George W.
Bush said in a statement

He said his administration was working to stabilize markets, in particular the credit markets where tight lending has added to the economy's woes

"A market that was frozen is thawing," he said

The U.S.
tipped into recession last December, a panel of experts declared earlier this week, confirming what many Americans already thought

Since the start of the recession, the economy has lost 1.9 million jobs, the number of unemployed people increased by 2.7 million and the jobless rate rose by 1.
7 percentage points

President-elect Barack Obama said the dismal job news underscored the need for forceful action, even as he warned that the pain could not be quickly relieved



"There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis ... and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama said. "At the same time, this ... provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come"

To provide relief, the Bush administration will continue to concentrate on ways to bust through a credit jam that is feeding prominently into the economy's problems, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told The Associated Press in an interview.
"We're going to stay focused on that like a laser," he said

On Wall Street, stocks slid.
The Dow Jones industrials were down more than 180 points in morning trading

Job losses last month were widespread, hitting factories, construction companies, financial firms, retailers, leisure and hospitality, and others industries.
The few places where gains were logged included the government, education and health services

The loss of 533,000 payroll jobs was much deeper than the 320,000 job cuts economists were forecasting. The rise in the unemployment rate, however, wasn't as steep as the 6.8 percent rate they were expecting.
Taken together, though, the employment picture clearly darkening.