This comes BEFORE the 500,000 jobs were reported lost for November, folks!
And just remember, America, this is all being DONE ON PURPOSE by the people allegedly FIXING the problem to IMPOVERISH YOU!
"Pace of job cuts suggests more pain lies ahead:" by Associated Press | December 5, 2008
The more than 15,000 layoffs reported yesterday by AT&T, DuPont, and Viacom suggest a yearlong wave of job cuts is accelerating, with the government expected to report today a higher unemployment rate for November. The Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group also unveiled 5,300 job cuts, though it's unclear how many will be in the United States....
The cuts announced yesterday affect an array of economic sectors, hitting telecom workers, bankers, sales people, and chemical manufacturers. The breadth of the layoffs suggests the pain of the recession will be felt broadly - and well into 2009.... Also this week, General Electric Co.'s media and theme park subsidiary, NBC Universal, laid off 500 employees, or about 3 percent of its workforce, a person familiar with the situation said. Several correspondents and others were laid off at NBC News.
I wonder whom is missing from their line-up.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it plans to cut 9,200 positions at Washington Mutual, which it has acquired. Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Hartford-based United Technologies Corp., laid off about 350 employees across the country Wednesday, the same day software maker Adobe Systems Inc. said it will cut 600 jobs, or about 8 percent of its workforce....
The numbers are STAGGERING! Seriously, where are the NEW JOBS going to come from?
Growing job insecurity dampens the economy in ways that go beyond those laid off, Gledhill noted. Anxious families, even those with jobs, rein in spending. Because consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of US economic activity, a pullback in spending typically leads companies to cut even more workers to trim costs.
It's what is known as a VISCOUS CYCLE!
"The prospect of losing your job is what scares people," said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in San Marcos, Calif. "It just adds to the concern that consumers are going to have about the future," Whalin said. "I don't know if anyone has any positive spin on this. I wish there was." --more--"
Bush does -- and so does the MSM press:
NEW YORK - Retailers who suffered through a miserable November - despite a surge in sales the day after Thanksgiving - are worried that the usual lull between the holiday weekend and the final days before Christmas could be dangerously quiet this year.
With financially squeezed shoppers who are holding out for even better deals or are simply already done, retailers who are already offering deep discounts will likely be forced to be even more aggressive as they lurch through a season which may be the weakest in at least 30 years. That's not going to help you because I'm not buying this year.
People are getting checks or gift cards!
Worries about the holiday season rose yesterday after many retailers - with Wal-Mart and BJ's Wholesale Club the exceptions - reported November sales so dismal it was the industry's worst month since at least 1969. The malaise cut across all sectors as shoppers worried about layoffs and shrinking retirement funds focused on necessities....
Yeah, except for the WHOLESALE CLUBS selling BULK NECESSITIES!! THEY are PROFITING from all this misery?
Based on conversations with retailers, this week's sales have been slower than expected, said Janet Hoffman, managing partner of the North American retail practice of Accenture. And with five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, retailers are under more pressure to make every day count.
And yet the MSM was crowing for about three days about how great the shopping started out. Umm, yeah, I am sick of the agenda-pushing business agents, er, I mean, newspapers!
In recent years, shoppers have been increasingly delaying their holiday shopping to the final days before Christmas for better bargains, but analysts say they believe this year people just can't afford to spend more....
Yeah, when the landlord is at the door, the lights are off, the cupboard empty, and the house freezing, it is kinda hard to get up to giving for corporate profits. Let 'em go get a bailout, because the HOMEOWNERS are STILL WAITING!!! Where is OUR STIMULUS, 'eh?
Worries about the economy have helped Wal-Mart, which reported a 3.4 percent gain in same-store sales, surpassing the 2.1 percent increase that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected. The results excluded sales from fuel. Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. reported a 4.1 percent increase in same-store sales on higher demand for food and other consumable products.
Well, it is nice to know SOMEONE is PROFITING off the American peoples' misery! I feel so much better about Xmas now!
TJX Cos., based in Framingham, said same-store sales were down a worse-than-expected 12 percent last month, as the stronger dollar dampened international sales. Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a bigger-than-expected 5 percent drop in same-store sales. Target Corp., which has been stumbling as its merchandise focuses more on nonessentials like trendy clothes, reported a 10.4 percent drop.
That's what happens when you base an economy on buying baubles of scitte!
Sales data from Thanksgiving weekend showed a buying binge on Friday, but shoppers retreated the rest of the weekend. And even at stores on Friday, people focused on bargains and on small-ticket purchases as they slash their holiday budgets.
I haven't even been out there, and I won't be, either! Given all the injustice, unfairness, lying, and killing in this world (most of it being done at the behest of my nation or at the direction of its masters in Israel), I'm not feeling too Xmasy this year.
Peace on Earth and Good Will towards Man, huh?
Web retailers, which have seen their sales slow in the deteriorating economy, posted a 15 percent sales gain for the Monday after Thanksgiving - the unofficial start for cyber shopping, according to comScore Inc., an Internet research company. But that gain was fueled by a 22 percent rise in the number of buyers, who spent on average 5 percent less compared with a year ago.
Uh-oh! Even the WEB can't help the shopping totals.
WTF? They all READING BLOGS?
:-)
--more--"
More: Caritas Christi financing put on hold; 160 face layoffs
