Posted on 07/06/2005 10:25:29 AM PDT by ex-Texan
The U.S. automotive and retail sectors slashed tens of thousands of jobs in June, bringing the number of planned job cuts to 110,996, the highest in 17 months, according to outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc.
Corporate announcements of job reductions increased by 35% from May's 82,282 and by 73% from June 2004's 64,343, Challenger said Wednesday. Cuts are up 92% since April.
So far in 2005, planned job reductions are ahead by 14%, at 538,274, Challenger's tally shows.
The automotive sector announced 45,378 job cuts in June, while the retail sector axed 24,065.
The Challenger survey is not seasonally adjusted. Typically, job cuts slow in the summer months.
"The fact that job cuts are rising in the summer is not even the most surprising trend," said John Challenger, CEO of the firm. "The surprise is that we are seeing a growing number of mass job cuts."
The Challenger report doesn't track most of the jobs lost in the economy each month. Announced cuts can take place immediately or over the course of several months, and they can be accomplished through layoffs or through voluntary terminations, such as quitting or retiring.
According to the most recent Labor Department data, there were 4.6 million separations from jobs in April, including 1.6 million layoffs, up about 250,000 from a year earlier. At the same time, 4.5 million workers were hired, flat with a year earlier.
In a separate report issued Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management reported an unexpected jump in the nonmanufacturing sentiment index in June, indicating strong growth.
The ISM index rose to 62.2% in June from 58.5% in May, ahead of expectations that had been anticipating a decline to 58.4%. See full story.
That's what bugs these people...They can't stand the thought that a blue collar worker can afford a house...No doubt under-achievers themselves or they wouldn't have time to worry about what someone else makes...
Having trouble selling a $40,000 gas guzzler in a hyper-inflated oil market and over extended on their pension plans? Noooooo......c'mon. Who'd thunk it could happen!
Of course I'm happy that small, custom American furniture companies still exist, Pal. Now go back and read post 37.
Long term trend has been following the expected course, and likely will continue.
The academic economists are mad. Old pard is one. They truly are out of touch with reality.
OK I read it. Same thing that the Socialist cheer leader Sham the Sham has been saying for quite some time.
If I lost my job tomorrow, my options
Start a landscaping business
Start a computer home help business
Become a photographer
Become a database design consultant for small businesses
Buy and sell native seeds and plants
Start a shop specializing in custom roasted coffee, smoked meats, cheeses and native foods.
I could think of more. The point is y'all are just whiners and have no imagination. You have become entitlement junkies that expect jobs to be given to you just because you are an AMERICAN.
My education? No college, high school was pretty boring and not challenging at all. Good thing I didn't wait around for the current president at the time to give me a job.
If and when the Chinese hit us with the smart weapons whose manufacturing we shipped offshore and for which it would be impossible for the ignorant Chicoms to reverse engineer, loaded with nuclear technology we gave away to them, the buggy whip industry may be making a comeback.
What is done is done, thank you Bill and Hill
You know, we would have a lot more resources to FIGHT China if we spent the 30-40% of our budget on weapons and military rather than pissing it away on the war on poverty.
If the welfare queens didn't have those government checks, they wouldn't support the Chinese military buying products at Walmart and Target.
7 Trillion dollars spent on the war on poverty. Are we any closer to winning?
Gosh, Sam. I didn't know you were a socialist. I didn't even see you at last week's Party meeting. Comrade Che baked little hammer-and-sickle shaped cookies and everything... Sam, seriously, don't waste your time arguing with schmucks like this "listenhillary" joker. Somehow they equate concern about the decline of American manufacturing and the economic well-being of the American worker under their "New Order" with Communism. But then again, these are people who think manufacturing is irrelevant and a declining standard of living is GOOD for this country, so what in the hell do you expect.
What is your solution? No one ever seems to want to be pinned down on that sticky detail.
yeah sure, nano-technology. the only thing going "nano" in US tech is my salary.
Your examples are of very noble professions, but they're not based in reality. Start a landscaping business? You'll be competing against TEAMS of illegal immigrants comprised of 5-6 individuals who make less money per day combined than you do alone. They live in ramshackle housing where a dozen people share a single bathroom. You'll simply be priced out of the market. Then you've got this other respectable example:
"...Start a shop specializing in custom roasted coffee, smoked meats, cheeses and native foods..."
What are you using for start-up money? Will you have a storefront or just online presence? Advertising? What foods will be in stock ready for immediate shipment? Cooking equipment, refrigerators, insurance, USDA & DOH inspections, the list goes on and on! Remember, many people losing jobs are solid performers with accolades from pleased customers...yet they get whacked without warning.
The simple fact-of-the-matter is that we can't have people trained for sheetmetal crafting (for example) and expect that they will "retrain" on a moment's notice. It's not protectionism...it's giving people a reasonable expectation that the rug will not be pulled from beneath them. As an aside, buggywhip workers were immediately tasked into automobile manufacturing when that revolutionary change occured. That is the difference between yesterday and today.
~ Blue Jays ~
I would propose a surtax on companies that outsource. Say if it cost $20,000 to employ a U.S. Citizen to do a job but it would only cost $10,000 to outsource to a foreign country to do it, well my surtax would charge the company $10,000 to make up for the cost to society. That would be part of my solution, also as someone else said, close the borders and reindustrialize.
This news should increase the price of homes another 15%.
Seal the border - I agree
Reindustrialize - you will have to defang the federal and state governments. They seem to bite when their power is threatened. How do you do that?
You MUST roll back the regulations to a time when we were an industrial powerhouse.
See that happening anytime soon?
You think too narrow grasshopper.
Landscaping is an art. Those that can give a customer landscaping like no one else will be in demand.
Start up money? I have saved money over the years instead of blowing all that I earn. Is it so hard to do?
You are asking the state to protect jobs. I propose that there is nothing in the constitution that gives the federal government the power to do this.
You found it in the constitution I suppose?
If you did that to my company, I'd simply close down my USA presence and find a more business friendly country.
What do you do then?
"All the "positive mental attitude" and "can do spirit" in the world is no substitute for just plain being on the wrong side of history. And the American worker, thanks to outsourcing and free trade, is on the wrong side of history."
I'm sorry, those just sound like lame excuses and misplaced to me. "Oh well, we can't win so why even play". Not buying it.
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