http://www.jobberz.com/
DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) — General Motors will lay off 1,600 workers at three US plants, as it slashes production in the face of a sharp drop off in sales, officials said Thursday.
"Unfortunately we've had a lot of these announcements lately," said GM spokesman Christopher Lee, noting that the automaker said in June it planned to bring production into line with demand.
General Motors has shuttered scores of plants and laid off nearly half its workforce since 2000 as it restructures its business in the face of a steady loss of market share to Asian competitors.
These latest job cuts will not actually come off GM's books immediately because of a labor agreement that requires the company to retrain temporarily laid-off workers.
GM's unionized US workforce stood at 72,000 people in June, down from 133,000 in 2000. Most of the reductions were made through buyouts and attrition.
About 4,500 other jobs cuts have been announced in recent weeks.
The latest cuts will reduce the workforce at GM's truck plant in Pontiac, Michigan to about 1,000 people, said Jim Hall, the bargaining chairman for United Auto Workers union Local 594.
That will halve production of Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks from 55 units to 24 units an hour, Hall told AFP.
About 500 workers at GM's sedan factory in Detroit will be laid off starting January 12, Lee said.
In addition, 400 workers at a two-seat sports car assembly plant in Delaware will be out of work starting December 8.
GM recently announced it is moving up the permanent shutdown of its sport utility vehicle plants in Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wisconsin. Both plants produce vehicles that have gone out of fashion with consumers because of the increase in fuel prices.
The automaker also announced plans to permanently close a stamping plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan and reduce production at assembly plants in Detroit and in Wilmington, Delaware, which is one of the few GM assembly plants that builds vehicles for exports.
Friday, October 17, 2008
job loss 4,000 for AZ construction
www.jobberz.com
Impact is seen in rise of tools at Tucson pawnshops
By Dan Sorenson
arizona daily star
Tradesmen's tools have been piling up at Tucson pawnshops as the construction sector continues to lead the state in job losses.
Construction lost 4,000 jobs statewide in September, the state Commerce Department reported Thursday. In a 13-month streak of job losses, Arizona has lost 39,000 construction jobs since September 2007.
The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in August to 5.9 percent in September, the Commerce Department reported.
An eye-level shelf packed with used professional-grade worm-drive Skilsaws at Super Pawn, 4055 E. Speedway, told the construction industry story.
"Before, we couldn't keep them in stock," said sales associate Gilbert Ugalde, gesturing to the long shelf of name-brand pro framer's power saws. Now, there are still that many and more in the back room, said Ugalde, "and that's with 40 percent off."
A check of Super Pawn and other Tucson pawnshops showed most had heavy stocks of building trade tools, from drywaller stilts and paint sprayers to heavy-duty tile saws and electrical generators.
There were several large electrical generators and air compressors at USA Pawn & Jewelry Co., 2904 N. First Ave., but assistant manager Andre Wynn said the business was also getting diamond rings and plasma TVs.
"People are getting desperate right now," Wynn said.
Arizona's 5.9 percent unemployment rate is now just slightly better than the national average of 6.1 percent. In September 2007, Arizona's rate was just 3.8 percent when the national rate was at 4.7 percent.
Retail trade had a particularly bad month in September, losing 4,400 jobs, which the state's Commerce Department attributes to cutbacks in consumer spending.
Looking for work
The 12 computer stations for job-seeking clients were all in use late Thursday morning at Pima County's Kino One-Stop employment center at 2797 E. Ajo Way.
Della Kirts, a 42-year-old licensed practical nurse, was looking for a job in administration or medical billing.
Kirts said she'd been away from hands-on nursing for several years, that she couldn't bring herself to do it after her mother's death three years ago. In the interim, she'd been working with her carpenter boyfriend installing skylights and laminate flooring.
The help with her job search came just in time, said Kirts. With five children, Kirts said, "I can hear Christmas pounding in my ears."
Arizona has lost more than 59,000 jobs so far in 2008. The statewide unemployment rate for the first nine months of 2008 averaged 4.7 percent, a full percentage point higher than the 3.7 percent average rate for the same period in 2007.
Tucson's unemployment rise followed the statewide trend, rising from 5.4 percent in August to 5.6 percent in September, up almost 2 percent since September 2007.
The Phoenix metro area fared only slightly better. The Phoenix area's unemployment rate rose from 5.1 percent unemployed in August to 5.3 percent for September, up 2 percent since September 2007.
Kirts said she really enjoyed working construction, but that work dried up over the last several months and it was time to put her medical-field experience and credentials to work again.
"I came to the end of my funds and I was down at DES (Department of Economic Security) about benefits. They said, 'Come down to the One-Stop.' It's amazing, the services. You just can't walk in and fill out applications (at employers) anymore. And we don't have Wi-Fi" at home, she said.
Help is available
Many services are available at the One-Stop to help people find jobs, said Murney Brown, a workforce development information specialist at the county employment complex.
The computer stations can be used to write and send résumés, search the Web for jobs, even learn how to advance skills with a typing tutor program that provides a certificate of typing speed to show a prospective employer.
The One-Stop also offers one-on-one sessions with job developers, including a specialist who works only with veterans and can connect them with jobs only open to them.
And the services are not just for the unemployed, said Brown.
Brown said that besides helping the unemployed, the One-Stop helps the underemployed and soon-to-be unemployed — like the restaurant and retail workers who have had their hours cut back "so much they can't survive" on what they're bringing home.
Longtime landscaper John Savala, 44, said he'd worked many jobs — dishwasher, breakfast cook, torch cutter, roofing truss builder, and in pool table manufacturing.
But he was using the One-Stop to look for nursery work, although he'd never worked in a nursery.
After 20 years working in yards, Savala said, "I know the native plants."
And he was hedging his employability bets, too, planning to also get into a program that would give him the credentials in a number of trades so he could do apartment maintenance work.
Impact is seen in rise of tools at Tucson pawnshops
By Dan Sorenson
arizona daily star
Tradesmen's tools have been piling up at Tucson pawnshops as the construction sector continues to lead the state in job losses.
Construction lost 4,000 jobs statewide in September, the state Commerce Department reported Thursday. In a 13-month streak of job losses, Arizona has lost 39,000 construction jobs since September 2007.
The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in August to 5.9 percent in September, the Commerce Department reported.
An eye-level shelf packed with used professional-grade worm-drive Skilsaws at Super Pawn, 4055 E. Speedway, told the construction industry story.
"Before, we couldn't keep them in stock," said sales associate Gilbert Ugalde, gesturing to the long shelf of name-brand pro framer's power saws. Now, there are still that many and more in the back room, said Ugalde, "and that's with 40 percent off."
A check of Super Pawn and other Tucson pawnshops showed most had heavy stocks of building trade tools, from drywaller stilts and paint sprayers to heavy-duty tile saws and electrical generators.
There were several large electrical generators and air compressors at USA Pawn & Jewelry Co., 2904 N. First Ave., but assistant manager Andre Wynn said the business was also getting diamond rings and plasma TVs.
"People are getting desperate right now," Wynn said.
Arizona's 5.9 percent unemployment rate is now just slightly better than the national average of 6.1 percent. In September 2007, Arizona's rate was just 3.8 percent when the national rate was at 4.7 percent.
Retail trade had a particularly bad month in September, losing 4,400 jobs, which the state's Commerce Department attributes to cutbacks in consumer spending.
Looking for work
The 12 computer stations for job-seeking clients were all in use late Thursday morning at Pima County's Kino One-Stop employment center at 2797 E. Ajo Way.
Della Kirts, a 42-year-old licensed practical nurse, was looking for a job in administration or medical billing.
Kirts said she'd been away from hands-on nursing for several years, that she couldn't bring herself to do it after her mother's death three years ago. In the interim, she'd been working with her carpenter boyfriend installing skylights and laminate flooring.
The help with her job search came just in time, said Kirts. With five children, Kirts said, "I can hear Christmas pounding in my ears."
Arizona has lost more than 59,000 jobs so far in 2008. The statewide unemployment rate for the first nine months of 2008 averaged 4.7 percent, a full percentage point higher than the 3.7 percent average rate for the same period in 2007.
Tucson's unemployment rise followed the statewide trend, rising from 5.4 percent in August to 5.6 percent in September, up almost 2 percent since September 2007.
The Phoenix metro area fared only slightly better. The Phoenix area's unemployment rate rose from 5.1 percent unemployed in August to 5.3 percent for September, up 2 percent since September 2007.
Kirts said she really enjoyed working construction, but that work dried up over the last several months and it was time to put her medical-field experience and credentials to work again.
"I came to the end of my funds and I was down at DES (Department of Economic Security) about benefits. They said, 'Come down to the One-Stop.' It's amazing, the services. You just can't walk in and fill out applications (at employers) anymore. And we don't have Wi-Fi" at home, she said.
Help is available
Many services are available at the One-Stop to help people find jobs, said Murney Brown, a workforce development information specialist at the county employment complex.
The computer stations can be used to write and send résumés, search the Web for jobs, even learn how to advance skills with a typing tutor program that provides a certificate of typing speed to show a prospective employer.
The One-Stop also offers one-on-one sessions with job developers, including a specialist who works only with veterans and can connect them with jobs only open to them.
And the services are not just for the unemployed, said Brown.
Brown said that besides helping the unemployed, the One-Stop helps the underemployed and soon-to-be unemployed — like the restaurant and retail workers who have had their hours cut back "so much they can't survive" on what they're bringing home.
Longtime landscaper John Savala, 44, said he'd worked many jobs — dishwasher, breakfast cook, torch cutter, roofing truss builder, and in pool table manufacturing.
But he was using the One-Stop to look for nursery work, although he'd never worked in a nursery.
After 20 years working in yards, Savala said, "I know the native plants."
And he was hedging his employability bets, too, planning to also get into a program that would give him the credentials in a number of trades so he could do apartment maintenance work.
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