Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Arizona: In Hereford, after almost 30 years The Mesquite Tree restaurant shutdown.
California: More proof the internet is not recession resistant; Sunnyvale based Yahoo eliminating more than 1-thousand jobs starting as soon as the end of this month! In-side sources say it’s because a three year ‘turnaround’ plan has failed to get the intended results (more proof the economy has not recovered). Sausalito’s only movie theater, CineArts’ 60 years old Marin, shutting down by the end of the month due to lack of sales. In Berkeley, after 33 years Black Oak Books shutting down, the owner lamenting “I wish I could have kept it open, but, in the end, you have to say ‘it’s not working.'” It must be noted that current owner Gary Cornell has been subsidizing the rent payments out of his pocket, store revenues are not high enough, and he said the city’s minimum wage increases are the final straw. I ask you; How can mom-n-pop business owners pay employees more money when their sales can’t even cover the costs of rent and utilities? Wage increases work only when the economy is good! After losing a federal level lawsuit The Alameda County Jail system laid off 49 nurses at the end of December, the current nursing staff says conditions at the massive county jail system are “…a mad house right now. It’s crazy, it’s really difficult. We’re severely understaffed and we’re basically working with a skeleton crew. The nursing staff that are there currently are worn out.”-Melissa Brown, licensed vocational nurse at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.
Florida: The Sunshine State experienced at least 16-thousand 947 job cuts in 2015, that’s the numbers officially reported to state administrators under the federal WARN program. Not every employer is required to comply with WARN. Bowling, movies, food joint Latitude 360 shutdown its Jacksonville location, no reason given. Medley based shoe store operator Traffic Shoes now chapter 11 bankrupt busted, 83 stores across the U.S. threatened. God refusing to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ 40 years old Emerald Coast Rescue Mission for homeless people next week, the property is being sold-off.
Hawaii: The Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company suddenly shutdown and laid off 645 people! Administrators blame low commodity prices for causing them to lose $30-million USD in 2015, which is enough to shut them down! It’s the last sugar farm in Hawaii!
Idaho: Grocer Supervalu issued a WARN for three Boise stores (North Ancestor, South Denver Way and Parkcenter locations), at least 80 jobs lost by March. It might be connected to Supervalu’s plan to take its Save-A-Lot discount grocery ops ‘public’. Back in October Supervalu laid off 115 people at their East Baybrook Court, Boise location, in connection with the merger of Albertsons and Safeway. Also in Boise, after at least 25 years the Twin Dragon restaurant is shutting down by March. The owners are trying to sell it to help fund their retirement plans. A Meridian woman is now in federal prison after co-leading a fraudulent investment scheme (known as Alternative Energy Holdings) once claiming to build a nuclear power plant near Mountain Home Air Force Base. Her partner in crime, a man, is on the run and being pursued by federal agents.
The state Department of Labor is admitting in a round-about way that the decades old Right to Work (you over) labor laws are a failure as 50% of Idahoans who graduate Idaho colleges/universities leave the state after four years due to low wages and salaries! It took decades of Right to Work you over-ism for state administrators to realize that highly educated workers are not going to work for peanuts? Of course the pro-Right to Work ‘lawmakers’ refused to blame their Right to Work policies and instead blamed “market conditions”, failing to realize that their Right to Work policies are directly influencing Idaho “market conditons”. Maybe the ‘lawmakers’ need to go back to school and take some economics classes?
Illinois: In East Dundee, after only one year Blues BBQ & Grill now bankrupt busted and shutdown. The owners are hoping to re-open as soon as they settle with creditors. What automotive industry recovery? In Normal, Japan based Mitsubishi is back to shutting down its only U.S. factory. Originally they were going to shut it down in November 2015 but then tried to sell it, unfortunately nobody wanted to buy it. Production was halted in November 2015 and 1-thousand 250 people lost their jobs! Oreo cookie maker Mondelez International shutting down its allergy free Schiller Park factory by Summer, about 130 jobs affected as work is being consolidated to a new factory in Indiana! At the Northwoods Mall 43 years old Kirlin’s Hallmark gift store shutting down as part of Hallmark’s plan not to renew store leases.
Indiana: Indianapolis based athletic clothing chain Finish Line shutting down 150 stores over the next four years blaming crashing sales! Bowling, movies, food joint Latitude 360 shutdown its Indianapolis location, no reason given. 
Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital-Glencore manipulated Alcoa aluminum maker continues its factory shutdowns started back in 2012, this time Alcoa’s largest U.S. smelter in Evansville shutting down. Along with the shutdown in Texas, 1-thousand 270 jobs will be lost! Only one U.S. Alcoa smelter will remain in operation, in New York (which is staying open only because taxpayers gave Alcoa $70-million USD to keep it operating)!
Maine: More proof going green (ecology) does not equate to seeing green (economy), Covanta Holding shutting down its biomass energy farms in Jonesboro and West Enfield because it can’t compete with low oil prices, at least 44 jobs lost.
Minnesota: Iron miner Magnetation eliminating 160 jobs at their Bovey ops! CEO Larry Lehtinen warned that the layoffs could expand, depending on the markets. New Jersey based medical tech company C.R. Bard shutting down their Stewartville factory. Since C.R. Bard took over the plant in 2013 at least 247 jobs gone, some to Mexico!
Missouri: Better Learning Communities Academy being shutdown due to low academic achievement and money problems. State Attorney General investigating the sudden shutdown of at least three Title Boxing Clubs. Pissed-off members say they were never given warnings or refunds.
Nevada: Las Vegas based taxsucker Bigelow Aerospace laid off as many as 50 people saying “…we analyzed the amount of staff that we employed throughout all of our departments at Bigelow Aerospace, and discovered that numerous departments were overstaffed.” Yet another solar panel company leaving The Silver State, this time Sunrun is using the same excuse that Solar City used, the new evil anti-solar power laws the evil state ‘lawmakers’ created which actually force homeowners to make extra monthly payments to the utilities monopoly for going green!
New York: HVAC company Daikin Applied issued a final phase shutdown WARN for their Auburn operations. The shutdown should be complete by April 2016, Daikin Applied is joining the mass exodus from The Empire State. Corning Community College announced it must layoff 21 employees by March, and will try to fill six open positions with current employees. In DeWitt, JCPenney shutting down its 60 years old ShoppingTown Mall store in April, the mall manager said JCPenney administrators put the store on their new 2016 shutdown list. In Haverstraw, after nearly 70 years 20 acre restaurant Platzl Brauhaus shutdown because it was sold-off. In Smithtown and Riverhead, Developmental Disabilities shutting down its OPTI-HEALTHCARE operations, 46 jobs lost by the end of April. China founded NYC based insurance company AIG laid off employees across the United States, administrators refused to give details such as how many or their locations: “On January 7, we restructured our AIG Financial Network (AIGFN) business….”
North Dakota: Job Service North Dakota ironically eliminated 60 of its own jobs. It’s blamed on the oil rich state government being short $4.1-million USD!
Oklahoma: More proof going green (ecology) does not equate to seeing green (economy) as eco-friendly resort The Canebrake shutdown without warning due to the sudden loss of a major funding source. Ignorant management claimed The Canebrake was “a successful venture” but then admitted it could not survive “without our investor”. A little wake up call for you, if you can’t survive on sales revenues that means you’re a failure! Which shows you that unAmerican corporate America, as a whole, is a failure because it relies on ‘major investors’ like debt financing and the stock markets to survive.
Oregon: In Hillsboro, Jacobsen’s Books & More shutting down because the owner is tired of being told by looky-loos “I’ll just go buy it on-line.” In Portland, Detour Cafe shutting down in February after 15 years, the owners are focusing on their other restaurant.
South Carolina: Dillard’s shutting down their Aiken Mall store, 75 jobs affected.
Tennessee: In Brentwood, local news sources were able to identify 128 people who got laid off by AIG (see above, New York)!
Texas: Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital-Glencore manipulated Alcoa aluminum maker continues its factory shutdowns started back in 2012, this time Alcoa is shutting down its Point Comfort alumina factory. Along with the shutdown in Indiana, 1-thousand 270 jobs will be lost!
Virginia: Norfolk based rail service Norfolk Southern laid off 38 conductors, halted training for seven new conductors and shutdown 3-hundred miles of track, blaming declining coal shipment orders. Department of Motor Vehicles shutdown its Oak Hall office due to an expired contract.
Washington: In Oroville, after 82 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) Hughes Department Store and Hughes Warehouse shutting down. Most of the customers are from Canada: “But this year, with the Canadian exchange rate at 70 cents on the dollar and the fires; it was a terrible summer season for us. It was just a combination of a lot of things. It just isn’t viable.”-Jack Hughes
Wisconsin: Another Mitt Romney wunderkind Staples store going down, this time the Morgan Square store in Beloit shutting down by March.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
07 January 2016: “we have exhausted our emotional reserves” Macy’s to kill 4,800 jobs!
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”