LayoffBlog.com

The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest since January, a sign the labor market is deteriorating more slowly as the economy emerges from the recession.

Source: Bloomberg

The outplacement firm Challenger Gray and Christmas reported today that planned layoff announcements fell from 76,456 in August to 66,404 in September, the lowest level since March 2008.

Source: Examiner.com

British telecom giant BT’s plans to cut 2,000 call centre jobs in India to provide permanent positions for UK staff during the recession have taken a major hit, over worries whether British workers would put in the stifling hours.

Keeping the recession in mind BT, which had moved 5,500 call centre jobs to India in 2003, had said that it was preparing to repatriate the jobs.

Source: Rediff

Social web site Facebook Inc. is looking for hundreds of people to hire, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The report, based on an Aug. 20 interview with Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said the Palo Alto, Calif. company plans to increase its work force by 50 percent this year. The business has about 900 workers right now.

Source: San Francisco Business Times

An index of economic indicators rose in July for a fourth straight month, in another sign that the recession is bottoming, said a report released Thursday.

The Leading Economic Index rose 0.6% in July, after a 0.8% increase the previous month, according to a report from the Conference Board, which has a membership of executives from around the world.

Source: CNNMoney

General Motors Co. called back 1,350 union workers, its biggest one-time increase in jobs since 2006, as it boosts second-half production, partly in response to demand from the government’s “cash for clunkers” program.

GM is adding shifts and overtime as well as restoring weeks of production at select facilities, as sales top expectations.

Source: Bloomberg

For the first time in decades, General Electric is adding new operations at two of its manufacturing hubs, underlining what the company says is a new commitment to producing in the United States.
G.E. is building a 350-employee plant in Schenectady, N.Y., to make high-density batteries that will turn many locomotives into diesel-electric hybrids.

Source: CNBC, TheNewYorkTimes

~News submitted by upthecreek

Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank less than forecast as stimulus-induced gains in demand worldwide helped resuscitate factories from the worst slump in three decades.

Source: Bloomberg

One of the world’s major steel makers is seeing early signs of a pickup in demand in key areas, a glimmer of hope for a battered sector whose fortunes rise and fall with products ranging from autos to appliances.
United States Steel Corp. said Tuesday it is recalling 800 workers to a mill in Illinois to boost production.

Source: TheGlobeAndMail

~News submitted by upthecreek

Computer technology job cuts declined 60 percent in the second quarter, ending June 30, compared with the first quarter, according to a survey released Monday.

Planned layoffs announced by computer, electronics and telecommunications companies totaled 33,890 in the second quarter, according to Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an consultation firm. That was down 60 percent from the previous quarter when tech-sector job cuts reached 84,220, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2002.

Source: Dayton Business Journal

Nissan Motor Co. plans to create 1,300 jobs in Smyrna, Tenn., when it begins manufacturing its new zero-emission car, officials said Tuesday.

Source: Memphis Business Journal

The “clean-energy economy” grew 9.1 percent between 1998 and 2007 to 777,000 jobs. While that is just half a percent of all U.S. jobs, the clean-energy economy is poised to grow significantly with financial support from the public and private sectors.

Source: The NY Times

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) says it will add more than 22,000 jobs in its U.S. namesake stores in 2009.

Source: Reuters

NCR Corp., the world’s leading provider of ATMs, announced Tuesday it is relocating its corporate headquarters to Georgia, bringing more than 2,000 jobs to the state over the next five years.

Source: Forbes, AP

Fewer Americans filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the biggest rounds of firings may be over. Initial jobless claims fell by 13,000 to 623,000 in the week ended May 23, lower than forecast, from a revised 636,000 the prior week, according to Labor Department.

Source: Bloomberg

Pfizer Inc. says it will provide 70 of its most widely prescribed prescription drugs – including Lipitor and Viagra – free to people who have lost their jobs and their health insurance.

The world’s biggest drugmaker said yesterday it will give the drugs away for up to a year to Americans who have lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been on a widely used Pfizer drug for three months or longer.

Source: The Start

General Electric Co., the world’s biggest maker of power-plant equipment and locomotives, will invest about $100 million to start a new battery business and create at least 350 jobs in northern New York.

Source: Bloomberg

Planned job cuts announced by U.S. employers totaled 132,590 in April, a 12 percent drop from the 150,411 layoffs recorded in March.

This marks the third consecutive decline in monthly job cuts announced and the lowest total since 112,884 cuts were announced last October, according to a report released Wednesday by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal

The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa has found work for most of the employees laid off earlier this year.

With the opening of the Hilton’s new luau earlier this spring, and the expected opening of Tropics Bar & Grill restaurant this month, 50 of the 58 employees laid off between January and March have returned to work.

Source: Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

Intel will spend $7 billion over the next two years to revamp three U.S. manufacturing plants, and the company’s CEO called on other companies to also invest in the future as a way to combat an economic recession.

The company will update manufacturing plants in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon to build new 32-nanometer processor chips, Paul Otellini, the company’s president and CEO announced Tuesday.

The three U.S. plants will support about 7,000 Intel employees and “multiple thousands” of contractors, Otellini said.

Source: ComputerWorld