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Many companies are cutting jobs in response to rising health care costs spurred by the Affordable Care Act, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Roughly one-fifth of service sector and manufacturing company executives said they are reducing the number of workers in response to provisions in the healthcare law... The New York fed surveyed about 100 executives in the manufacturing sector and roughly 150 executives in the services sector located in New York State, Northern New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut... The results add to a bevy of bad news related to the...

NEW YORK (AP) — Target Corp. cut its profit forecast and a key sales outlook Wednesday as it saw fewer customers in its stores and acknowledged it didn't push the second part of its "Expect More, Pay Less" slogan. The Minneapolis-based discounter's second-quarter net income fell nearly 10 percent, though that was better than what most had expected. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.1 percent, reversing seven straight quarters of gains. Its main competitor, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., reports results Thursday. Target's shares fell $4.74, or 6 percent, to $70.74 in afternoon trading.

Cisco Systems Inc is laying off about 14,000 employees, representing nearly 20 percent of the network equipment maker's global workforce, technology news site CRN reported, citing sources close to the company. San Jose, California-based Cisco is expected to announce the cuts within the next few weeks, the report said, as the company transition from its hardware roots into a software-centric organization. Apart from Cisco, two other big software companies, Microsoft Corp and HP Inc, have also announced job cuts this year.Microsoft said in July that it would lay off about 2,850 jobs over the next 12 months, taking its total...

Ruby Tuesday plans to close 95 restaurants throughout the country, the company announced. The locations of the restaurants to be closed have not been released, but the restaurants will be shutting down quickly. According to the company's press release, the under-performing locations will stop operations by September. Ruby Tuesday's had 724 restaurants as of May 31, and 646 of those were company-operated.

Macy’s says it plans to close about 100 stores next year as the department store operator aims to become more nimble in a competitive market. That represents close to 14 percent of its store base. […] The nation’s largest department store chain says that it earned $11 million, or 3¢ per share, in the quarter ended July 30. That compares with $217 million, or 64¢ per share, in the year-ago period. …

Chicago Public Schools will lay off about 1,000 employees, nearly half of whom are teachers. Officials with the nation’s third-largest school district characterized the layoffs Friday as part of the “normal” yearly staff movement between schools and that they expect most people will be hired for other jobs. CPS has about 1,000 teaching vacancies. …

The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent in July, the Labor Department said Friday. But relying on that one number as an indicator of the job market is an oversimplification of the complicated world of employment. Each month on jobs Friday, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out a slew of employment-related data, each of which tells its own story about the jobs situation. Most economists look past the official unemployment rate — also known as the "U-3" number — to other metrics that provide other views of the state of jobs. One of those figures is...

Raise the minimum wage in Seattle they said. It will help workers they said. Well, the city did increase the minimum wage from the previous rate of $9.47 to $15, which is to be phased in by 2018. It’s now at $11, and lo and behold it has hurt workers. A study found that workers would’ve already seen an increase in wages without the hike because of the increased economic activity and more would’ve been employed. Instead, hours were cut, fewer people worked, and all of this was [predictable]: The average hourly wage for workers affected by the increase jumped...

July 28 (Reuters) - The New York Times Co reported its second quarterly loss in a row as print and digital advertising sales declined. Print ad revenue fell 14.1 percent, the eighth straight quarterly decline. Digital ad revenue, which accounts for about a third of total ad revenue, dropped 6.8 percent, the second straight quarterly decline. The Times posted a net loss of $211,000 attributable to shareholders for the second quarter ended June 26, compared with a profit of $16.4 million the year-earlier quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 11 cents per share from continuing operations, matching the...

n Colorado, the rate jumped 0.4 point from May to a still-low 3.7 percent as more of its population began looking for work without being hired, a positive for the economy as it suggests greater optimism that these people will find jobs. A similar trend played out in five other states: Nevada and Oregon each saw a 0.3 percent increase, while rates went up 0.2 points in California, Maine and South Dakota. Those trends correspond with the national report that saw the unemployment rate rise from 4.7 percent in May to 4.9 percent as more workers started searching for jobs.

Murray Energy Corp., the largest privately held coal miner in the U.S., has warned that it may soon undertake one of the biggest layoffs in the sector during this time of low energy prices. In a notice sent to workers this week, Murray said it could lay off as many as 4,400 employees, or about 80% of its workforce, because of weak coal markets. The company said it anticipates “massive workforce reductions in September.” The law requires a 60-day waiting period before large layoffs occur.

The fast-food chain has plans to replace some workers with the touch-screen technology in an effort to save on labor costs. By the end of the year, thousands of Wendy’s locations across the country will be offered the kiosks, while franchise-operated stores will have the option of whether to use the technology. ... This year, minimum-wage rose to $10 an hour in California and will gradually rise to $15. Wendy’s president and chief financial officer, told Investor’s Business Daily that labor costs have gone to five to six percent in the past year. ... On social media, there were mixed...

Wife worked full-time at an organized church office for 9 1/2 years now. Worked 35 hours a week and received insurance and health care benefits, etc. Fiscal year cycles at June 30. She was the elimination of her position this past week and given the option to continue at 19 hours a week, part time. She has said no, she needs a job with benefits. They surprised her yesterday, Friday, with her last day worked. Their letter says she is paid until end of June and 4 weeks into July for sick days and left over vacation time. Now her...

A few months ago we pointed out that mass layoffs were coming for bankers due to declining revenues and more difficult market conditions, and now we're seeing the first major wave of that come to fruition. Bank of America has announced that it will fire as many as 8,000 employees within its consumer division the FT reports.The core reason given for the headcount reduction in this instance is that digital banking is picking up the pace, and has reduced the need for "back office staff" and bank tellers. This is a trend that BofA highlighted in its In its Q1...

Nearly half of Washington, D.C. employers said they have either laid off employees or reduced the hours of employees to adapt to the District of Columbia’s minimum wage hikes since 2014, according to a report from the Employment Policies Institute. The minimum wage in the District of Columbia has increased from a $8.25 hourly rate in 2014 to the current rate of $11.50 per hour. Mayor Muriel Bowser advocated a $15 minimum wage in her State of the District address earlier this year. “In recent months, the City Council in D.C. has considered enacting a number of new labor mandates,...

Former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi appeared on Fox Business Network and warned progressive groups against $15 per hour minimum-wage hikes. “I was at the National Restaurant Show yesterday and if you look at the robotic devices that are coming into the restaurant industry — it’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who’s inefficient [while] making $15 an hour bagging French fries,” Rensi said Tuesday. “It’s nonsense and it’s very destructive and it’s inflationary and it’s going to cause a job loss across this country like you’re not going to believe,” Rensi added....

The New York Times will offer voluntary buyout packages to members of the newsroom and several business departments at the end of the month, the company announced on Wednesday. In a memo, members of the executive committee, including Arthur Sulzberger Jr., the newspaper’s publisher, and Dean Baquet, its executive editor, said that the buyouts were a part of the company’s larger mandate to build a more digitally focused newsroom, and to reach its stated goal of doubling digital revenue by the year 2020. “These plans will no doubt lead to new initiatives and investments,” the memo said. “At the same...

Investor’s Business Daily reported Wednesday that fast food chain Wendy’s will be expanding the use of self-service kiosks in response to the rising minimum wage: Wendy’s said that self-service ordering kiosks will be made available across its 6,000-plus restaurants in the second half of the year as minimum wage hikes and a tight labor market push up wages. It will be up to franchisees whether to deploy the labor-saving technology, but Wendy’s President Todd Penegor did note that some franchise locations have been raising prices to offset wage hikes Other fast food chains are also experimenting with self-service kiosks. McDonalds...

As President Obama's second term nears its end he has begun a media tour emphasizing what he claims are the positive aspects of his policies. The complicit media, of course, have long worked to inflate positive impressions of Obama’s legacy, and this latest set of interviews is no different. "In two recent interviews, with The New York Times Magazine on his economic legacy and with The Atlantic on his foreign policy legacy, Mr. Obama expressed a common sentiment: He had achieved big things and avoided even bigger mistakes, and yet most people just shrug," wrote Mark Landler for The New...

Saudi construction giant Binladin group has laid off tens of thousands of workers, leading to rare protests, as workers torch seven buses demanding compensation as low oil prices begin to bite in earnest. The numbers of layoffs range from 50,000 to 77,000, many of who say they were not paid for several months. Binladin group, which last year had all of its contracts frozen after a crane fell over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 107, denied that it owed its workers any compensation. The company said the layoffs were a “routine” adjustment to a slowdown in construction activity in...