Factory wages at welfare levels! Half of retail stores to shutdown! : U.S. Job Losses & Closings 12 May 2016

Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

“…on an apples-to-apples basis, we have twice as much per-capita retail space as any other place in the world. The U.K. is second. ….we are the most over-stored place in the world.  …it’s going to have to go down by at least half at some point in time.  In the next 13 years…50% of sales will be online…”-Jan Kniffen, retail analyst interviewed by CNBC

California:  A UC Berkeley-National Employment Law Project study has revealed that about 6-million U.S. factory workers are paid so little they also qualify for welfare: “…between 2009 and 2013 the federal government and the states spent $10.2 billion per year on public safety net programs for workers (and their families) who hold frontline manufacturing production jobs. This includes workers directly hired by manufacturers and those hired through staffing agencies.”    In Fresno, bicycle customizer Fulton Cycle Works shutting down, the owner and member of the California Air National Guard says his insurance company is tired of him being the victim of burglars. The latest theft was done by a woman who broke through a window to steal one bike! Interestingly the bike she stole didn’t have any pedals, so she came back for another bike! The stolen bikes were recovered, but this is just one burglary among dozens to hit Fulton Cycle Works and the business insurance provider said they are canceling the policy.   More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; The Mercury News reports that in the first four months of 2016, “…3,135 tech jobs lost in the four-county region of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and San Francisco counties…”! That’s more than double from the same time last year.

Florida: In Saint Petersburg, after 31 years Brighton Prep School shutting down due to the not-so-recovered economy preventing parents from paying the school fees.

Illinois: The Gary School Board suddenly laid off 13 people, including their InfoTech director.

Louisiana: Fruit of the Loom-Martin Mills shutting down its Vidalia Distribution Center, 167 jobs gone by July! Hexion chemicals announced the slow burn shutdown of its Norco location, 97 jobs lost over the next few years. Despite reporting better than expected revenues, Arizona based mining company Freeport-McMoRan will eliminate 32 oil jobs in New Orleans. Offshore Specialty Fabricators announced that the 67 people furloughed in March are now permanently laid off.   More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; in Baton Rouge, Xerox eliminated 84 data collection jobs with its State & Local Solutions ops.

New York: Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric issued a shutdown WARN for its Henrietta operations, 38 jobs gone by mid-August.  Here’s a list of recently discovered restaurant shutdowns in the Big Apple; Thirteen Pies, Afredo’s, Asante, H. Harper Station and The Pecan.  

North Carolina: Gold’s Gym shutdown their Winston-Salem Fourth Street location, it’s the 4th Gold’s Gym to shutdown in Winston-Salem.

Ohio: In Lima, after 39 years restaurant Lickity Split shutting down due to the owner’s health problems, and the owner says nobody wants to take over the business.

Pennsylvania: In Mechanicsburg, after 25 years Grandpa’s Growler restaurant shutting down after being sold-off.

Rhode Island: Warwick School Committee eliminating a net of 42 teaching jobs as part of consolidation efforts to save $4.2-million USD.

Texas: In the Austin area, small scale beer brewer Ironsight shutdown without warning, indicating it might have something to do with the landlord when they said they were looking “for a new home with a new name”.   In the same area small scale Beer brewer Bindlestick shutting down soon, possibly due to increasing competition.   According to the Brewers Association last year 620 new ‘craft beer’ breweries opened across the U.S.  There are now more breweries in the U.S. than in the past 126+ years!

Washington DC: California owned Howard University Hospital eliminating 110 jobs by the end of June!  So far for this fiscal year the hospital has lost $10-million USD, no thanks to ObamaCare!

West Virginia: In Morgantown, after 60 years autoshop Jimmy’s Sunoco shutting down this weekend.

Wisconsin: Joy Global shutting down its Milwaukee welding ops, turns out 130 people have already been laid off!  It’s blamed on the petroleum and coal industries.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification. I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!

Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”

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.”