Connecticut Unemployment

Friday, January 26th, 2007
Posted by Amelia Figueroa, National Business Compliance Department
The Connecticut unemployment outlook continues sunny and bright, even if the winter weather is not. In December, the state gained 1,200 jobs as the employment expansion of 2006 continued. The December figures are the most recent available.

The state’s non-farm employment rate in December was 1,679,200, an increase of 1,200 jobs from the November numbers, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. This is a gain of 10,600 jobs over the December count of 1,668,600 jobs after making seasonal adjustments. Employment data is based on a survey of business establishments.

“While the job gains we saw in 2006 certainly represent good news for the citizens of Connecticut, our goal of attracting new business to our state and expanding those already operating here must continue,” said Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell. “We must make every effort to ensure that our workforce has the education and skills needed to fill these new jobs now, as well as those in the future.”

According to State Labor Economist John Tirinzonie, the 2006 holiday season was very profitable for the state economy. “With the noticeable increase in jobs for December, we now are up 5,000 over the last three months. This brings our total employment gain for the year to an estimated 10,600 jobs. The state has now posted an additional 39,400 new jobs since our low point in September of 2003, with many key industry sectors showing positive growth. As of now, the employment outlook for Connecticut in 2007 should come close to the increase we experienced this past year, although employment in parts of the manufacturing sector may be the one soft spot in our economic performance,” Tirinzonie said.

The professional and business services sector showed the largest gain with 1,200 new jobs in 2006. The construction industry also experienced increases, with 600 new jobs. Job growth in other sectors included 300 jobs in information and 300 jobs in financial activities. Four sectors remained unchanged over the year. These include trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, and government.

Durham economy booms in 2006

BY JEFF ZIMMER
jzimmer@heraldsun.com
Jan 27, 2007 : 12:41 am ET

Durham's rapidly expanding economy added almost 4,800 jobs last year, the county's best year on record for employment growth, the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina reported on Friday.

The job growth crossed a variety of sectors, from thousands of new professional positions to hundreds of manufacturing jobs, according to ESC data. The jobs were delivered by Durham newcomers such as Merck & Co. as well as longtime local companies such as Measurement Inc.

"It went across the board and there is really no indication that things are going to slow down," said Mark Vitner, a regional economist with Wachovia Securities in Charlotte. "We saw a great deal of hiring with a number of companies that expanded or relocated and there was a lot of growth in [Research Triangle Park]."

Durham County averaged 129,793 employed residents over the 12 months of 2006 -- 4,774 more than the average number of employed Durham residents in 2005, and the most ever, according to ESC statistics.

The jump in the number of employed Durham residents between 2005 and 2006 was the most since 1990, the earliest year for which comparative employment data is available from the ESC. The next most active period for job growth was 1995 to 1996 when the county added some 4,400 jobs, according to ESC data.

The job market picture for 2006 became clear on Friday after the state agency reported December employment statistics.

Durham ended the year on a positive note with the county's unemployment rate dropping to 3.7 percent from 4.0 percent in November. It was the 10th month during 2006 that Durham's jobless rate was 4.0 percent or less -- the best year since 2000, or pre-9/11, when the peak jobless rate during the year was 3.2 percent.

That was the second lowest unemployment rate among the state's 14 Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Durham wasn't alone in good news on the jobs front in 2006.

The Durham metro area, which includes Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties, added almost 9,000 jobs during the year when comparing the average number of employed residents in 2005 and 2006, according to ESC data. That was the biggest gain in jobs on record for the four-county area, and the Durham metro area averaged 244,530 employed residents in 2006, according to the state agency's statistics.

The biggest job growth was in professional and business services, which added 2,600 jobs, followed by educational and health services, which added 1,100 jobs during the year, according to the ESC.

"The resurgence of RTP helped Durham, Cary and Raleigh and it was a broader range of companies, not just pharmaceutical," said Larry Parker, an ESC spokesman. "We certainly hope it's something that continues and there's no slowing in growth."

That's not very likely with a number of companies making announcements last year that they were coming to the area and bringing jobs with them. Fidelity Investments announced a new 3,000-employee campus in RTP while United Therapeutics and Stiefel Laboratories announced new operations that'll mean hundreds of new jobs in RTP.

The Durham metro area added the third most jobs -- 5,500 -- during 2006, trailing only the Charlotte (13,200 new jobs) and Raleigh-Cary (19,300 new jobs) metro areas, according to the ESC. Those statistics, however, do not take into account self-employed and agricultural jobs and when all jobs are considered, the Durham metro area added almost 9,000 jobs, according to the ESC.

In all, unemployment rates dropped in 72 North Carolina counties in December while 22 had increases and six remained the same, according to the ESC.

The six counties in the Durham area reported lower jobless rates in December.

Orange County had an unemployment rate of 3.1 percent in December, down from 3.4 percent in November. Chatham County's jobless rate dropped to 3.6 percent in December, from 3.8 percent in November. Person County's jobless rate was 6.7 percent in December, down from 7.0 percent the previous month. Granville County's unemployment rate was 5.0 percent in December, down from 5.4 percent in November. Vance County's rate dropped to 7.1 percent, from 7.5 percent in November.

The state added some 128,600 workers in 2006 and ended up with 4.3 million employed residents in December, according to the ESC.

"When you look at employment numbers as a whole, the state is doing much better than it was three or four years ago," Parker said. "Certainly the urban areas have really taken off, like Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham."

2006 'Mass Layoffs' Were the Lowest in 10 Years; Media Ignores

Posted by Tom Blumer on January 25, 2007 - 07:10.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its monthly report on "mass layoffs" yesterday. It also included annual totals and an eleven-year chart of mass layoff history.

A "mass layoff action" involves "at least 50 persons from a single establishment." Since 1988, employers have been required to give 60 days notice of "covered plant closings and covered mass layoffs." The BLS Mass Layoffs report compiles those notices.

Now that 2006 is in the record books, here is that eleven-year chart:

As you can see, the total number of "layoff events" in 2006 came in at the lowest on record (BLS began compiling these statistics during the second quarter of 1995), while the number of people who filed unemployment claims as a result of those layoffs was the lowest in 10 years. On a percentage-of-workforce basis, the number of unemployment claims filers in 2006 was also, along with the layoff events, the lowest in the 11 full years BLS has reported on this information.

Some of those years would include the formerly Mainstream Media's favorite period for reporting good news about the economy, namely 1997 through 2000. Well, it so happens that the number of employees filing claims as a result of mass layoffs during that media-perceived Golden Age (6.72 million) is barely less than the comparative number (6.78 million) for the "Greatest Story Never Told" economy of 2003 through 2006. As with the single-year comparison in the previous paragraph, the 2003-2006 percentage of the workforce affected by mass layoffs was lower than the percentage so affected during 1997-2000.

A Google News search on "mass layoffs" (in quotes) at about 11PM last night only had about 15 stories on the latest mass layoffs report, all relating to coverage of individual states by business weekly newspapers.

A search on the "My Way" business-news pages (Associated Press, Fox, MSNBC, NY Times, USA Today, and MarketWatch) a few minutes later also had no coverage.

The failure to report good economic news by the formerly Mainstream Media's business press would explain why American Research Group's monthly poll about the economy continues to show people believing that it is not in good shape, or being handled well:

When news of favorable developments like the record low in mass layoffs is totally ignored, why would anyone expect a different result?

Ohio fifth nationally in December mass layoffs

Ohio ranked fifth among states in the largest number of jobs lost to big layoffs in December, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

In December, the state lost nearly 15,900 jobs through 137 mass layoff events, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. California ranked first (34,850), followed by Michigan (22,840), Illinois (17,200) and Kentucky (15,975). In December 2005, Ohio lost 13,060 jobs, in 133 mass layoff events.

The bureau characterizes a mass layoff as one in which 50 or more initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits from a company beginning in a certain month, regardless of how long the layoff lasts.

Nationally, 13,998 mass layoffs occurred, resulting in the loss of nearly 1.5 million jobs.

For the year, Ohio lost 80,921 jobs through mass layoffs. California again outpaced other states with 317,900 jobs lost. Michigan (127,960), Pennsylvania (89,560) and New York (76,640) were among the other states with the biggest losses.

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call 222-6900.

Manufacturing accounts for 33% of U.S. mass layoff events

Author: RP news wires
In December, employers took 1,201 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported January 24. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 133,818, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of mass layoff events decreased by 19 from the prior month, and the number of associated initial claims decreased by 2,522. During December, 390 mass layoff events were reported in the manufacturing sector, seasonally adjusted, resulting in 53,828 initial claims. Both the number of events and the number of initial claims in manufacturing were lower in December than a month earlier. The national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, unchanged from the prior month and down from 4.9 percent a year earlier. Total non-farm payroll employment, seasonally adjusted, increased by 167,000 over the month and by 1.8 million over the year. Industry Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) The 10 industries reporting the highest numbers of mass layoff initial claims, not seasonally adjusted, accounted for 36 percent of the total initial claims in December. The industry with the highest number of initial claims was highway, street and bridge construction with 19,021, followed by school and employee bus transportation with 14,747, and food service contractors with 13,903. Together, these three industries accounted for 19 percent of all initial claims due to mass layoffs during the month. The manufacturing sector accounted for 33 percent of all mass layoff events and 41 percent of all related initial claims filed in December; a year earlier, manufacturing made up 30 percent of events and 38 percent of initial claims. In December 2006, the number of manufacturing claimants was highest in transportation equipment manufacturing (38,811, mostly in motor vehicle manufacturing), followed by food manufacturing (8,557), and wood products manufacturing (6,359). Construction accounted for 19 percent of mass layoff events and 14 percent of initial claims in December, mostly from heavy and civil engineering construction. Administrative and waste services comprised 11 percent of events and 9 percent of initial claims filed over the month, with the majority of layoffs in temporary help services. Accommodation and food services made up 8 percent of events and associated initial claims, mainly from food service contractors. Seven percent of all mass layoff events and 8 percent of related initial claims filed were from transportation and warehousing, primarily from the school and employee bus transportation industry. Government establishments accounted for 3 percent of events and 2 percent of initial claims filed, largely from educational services. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the number of mass layoff events in December, at 2,249, was down by 74 from a year earlier, and the number of associated initial claims increased by 245 to 254,503. The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were reported in transportation equipment manufacturing (+4,303), machinery manufacturing (+2,585), and electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing (+1,985). For transportation equipment manufacturing, states with the largest over-the-year increases in initial claims were Kentucky (+3,826), Iowa (+2,561), Minnesota (+2,423), Virginia (+2,109) and Ohio (+2,065). The largest over-the-year decreases in mass layoff initial claims were reported in administrative and support services (-5,409), food manufacturing (-2,124) and heavy and civil engineering construction (-1,709). Geographic Distribution (Not Seasonally Adjusted) Among the four census regions, the highest number of initial claims in December due to mass layoffs was in the Midwest, 109,495. Transportation equipment manufacturing and heavy and civil engineering construction together accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff initial claims in that region during the month. The South had the second largest number of initial claims among the regions, 54,023, followed by the West, 50,247 and the Northeast 40,738. The number of initial claimants in mass layoffs decreased over the year in three of the four regions – the West (-3,149), the Midwest (-2,167) and the Northeast (-2,159). The South experienced the only regional increase (+7,720). Five geographic divisions had over-the-year decreases in the numbers of initial claims associated with mass layoffs, with the largest decrease in the East North Central division (-7,215), followed by the Pacific division (-2,989). Of the four divisions with over-the-year increases, the largest were in the East South Central (+7,523) and West North Central (+5,048). Among the states, California recorded the highest number of initial claims filed due to mass layoff events in December (34,848), followed by Michigan (22,842), Illinois (17,195), Kentucky (15,975) and Ohio (15,848). These five states accounted for 40 percent of all mass layoff events and 42 percent of all associated initial claims for unemployment insurance. Kentucky had the largest over-the-year increase in the number of initial claims (+6,109), mostly due to layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing. States having the next largest increases in initial claims were Iowa (+2,981), Maryland (+2,825), New York (+2,824) and Ohio (+2,789). The largest over-the-year decreases in claims occurred in Michigan (-7,614), Georgia (-4,553) and California (-4,078). Review of 2006 During 2006, 13,998 mass layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting in 1,484,391 initial claims filings for unemployment insurance. In 2005, there were 16,466 events and 1,795,341 initial claimants. The total number of initial claims for 2006 was the lowest reported for any January-December period since 1996. The 10 industries with the highest number of mass layoff initial claims accounted for 31 percent of the total in 2006. Temporary help services and school and employee bus transportation ranked 1 and 2 among these 10 industries in both 2006 and 2005. Heavy duty truck manufacturing and discount department stores entered the top 10 industries in terms of initial claims. These industries replaced motor vehicle seating and trim manufacturing and elementary and secondary schools. Manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of all mass layoff events and 39 percent of initial claims filed during 2006. A year earlier, manufacturing accounted for 29 percent of events and 37 percent of initial claims. Initial claim filings were most numerous in transportation equipment (221,383) followed by food manufacturing (62,927) and machinery manufacturing, (40,069). During 2006, the largest declines in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing (-32,351) and food manufacturing (-13,999). The largest over-the-year increase in initial claims occurred in machinery manufacturing (+6,356). The number of initial claims filed in 2006 due to mass layoffs was higher in the Midwest (508,798) than in any other region. Layoffs in transportation equipment manufacturing accounted for 31 percent of the claims in the Midwest. Administrative and support services, machinery manufacturing, and heavy and civil engineering construction accounted for an additional 16 percent of layoffs in that region in 2006. The fewest number of mass layoff initial claims was reported in the Northeast region (254,684). In 2006, mass layoff initial claims decreased in all four of the regions. The largest declines were in the South (-172,613) and Midwest (-63,152). In 2005, the South experienced a substantial increase of initial claimants in Louisiana and Mississippi as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California recorded the largest number of initial claims filed in mass layoff events in 2006 (317,907), 21 percent of the national total. The states with the next highest numbers of initial claims were Michigan (127,964), Pennsylvania (89,559), Ohio (80,291) and New York (76,638). Fifty percent of events and 47 percent of all initial claims were from these five states. Louisiana reported the largest over-the-year decrease in initial claims (-107,685), followed by California (-42,231) and Ohio (-32,874). The largest over-the-year increases were reported in Maryland (+6,773) and Kentucky (+6,168).

Abrupt company layoff leaves 175 jobless

Dina Magaril

The Vermont based Specialty Filaments Inc. (SFI), a manufacturing company specializing in synthetic monofilament design, closed its doors to over 175 workers on Jan. 11 when it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Bill Haynes, the company spokesperson, cited a combination of outstanding debt and an inability to compete with cheaper labor overseas as the two main reasons for the company's failure.

Most workers employed by SFI, which is owned by the Boston firm Capital Resource Partners, were not aware of the company's financial troubles, and were surprised by the sudden closing of the company's factories, which include two facilities in Middlebury and offices in Burlington.

"They told us [we were closing] right before it happened. We got no warning," said Bill Whitney, who had worked for the company for ten years as well as the union leader for Unite Here Local 2524. Though Whitney was aware that "the company had been struggling," and even sat in on some of the negotiations taking place within SFI, none of the workers were prepared to hear the news that the company was filing for bankruptcy.

"This came as a surprise to everybody," said Haynes. "The company was doing its best to try to compete for several years and finding it increasingly difficult to do so."

Haynes said that the company had been negotiating with its senior lender, Wells Fargo, for weeks before the decision was made to close indefinitely. "The surprise came when our lender said we defaulted on the loan, meaning that the company was forced to declare bankruptcy," Haynes explained.

SFI first suspended operations on Jan. 5 to discuss the company's future. "During the break [SFI] and the bank were trying to negotiate and come to an agreement and figure out what would be the best way to move forward," said Haynes. Unfortunately for the company's workers, moving forward involved getting laid off without severance pay.

"We got nothing," said Whitney. "They cancelled every benefit, one thing they couldn't cancel were our pensions, which are guaranteed by the federal government." The lack of any worker's compensation was a particularly tough blow for Whitney, who has four boys with his wife Sarah, the owner of a day care center who relied on the insurance provided by her husband's job.

Haynes described the company's closing as a nationally relevent issue, saying, "In some sense, this is really a national story in that a lot of manufacturing companies in the U.S. are struggling because of overseas competition," he said. While the company's debt was a contributing factor to the closing, Haynes said a bigger problem was the availability of cheap labor overseas, where "products are being made for much less money in countries like China."

When asked if there was any chance the company might be bought up and reopened, Haynes was hopeful but not convinced. "There is that hope that the company could be sold in the future," he said, "It's possible, but maybe not probable."

In light of the company's closing, laid off workers were invited to attend a job fair on Jan. 18 held at the Middlebury American Legion headquarters on Boardman Street. Katie Johnson, the business manager for Addison County's solid waste management district - a transfer station responsible for the management of Middlebury's recycling programs - was one of the companies that held a booth at the fair. Though the fair was open to all persons looking for employment, Johnson said it was obvious that the event was thrown together on short notice, mainly to assist those workers laid off from SFI.

"We heard about it, made some phone calls and got involved," said Johnson. Though Johnson said her company didn't have too many job openings, it is in the process for interviewing for a new scale operator. "As an employer, it was really hard to see that," said Johnson, referring to the estimated 120 employees from SFI that she saw wandering around the job fair. "A lot of folks worked there for 20 or 30 years, they worked a lifetime," she said.

Whitney was one of the hopeful attendees, saying he filled out some applications but that "nothing is definite yet." Johnson described the job fair as filled with an "air of optimism," but perhaps for the wrong reasons. "I think some of the workers [that were laid off] are hopeful that the company will be bought up by a new owner and reopened," said Johnson. "But they're not going to just sit around and wait for that to happen," she said.

<

North Carolina One-Year Industry Employment Change

North Carolina One-Year Industry Employment Change

Total employment has increased by 2.7 percent from the reported values in 2005. These values are greater than than the gain seen for the United States of 2 percent

Stock Building Supply's latest layoff cuts 1,500

D udley Price, Staff Writer

RALEIGH - Stock Building Supply, one of the nation's largest building-material suppliers, is cutting 1,500 jobs as the U.S housing slump depresses sales and profit.

Raleigh-based Stock said in November that it was cutting 2,000 jobs. The latest round of layoffs was announced Monday by the company's British parent, Wolseley Plc, which also is closing 22 Stock branches and cutting 500 jobs at its Ferguson plumbing division, which is headquartered in Virginia.

Wolseley spokeswoman Denise Waters declined to say how many of the layoffs were in the Triangle.

Stock has 16,000 employees in 34 states, including just under 1,000 in the Triangle. The company has expanded rapidly, buying 16 building supply outlets in the past year. It now has 314 branches.

Officials blamed the company's worsening financial condition on builders starting fewer new houses and a decline in lumber prices.

"We've responded swiftly to the challenging market conditions as a significant amount of our business is in residential construction," Stock vice president of finance Jim Major said in a prepared statement.

Officials apparently aren't ruling out more layoffs.

"As always, we will continue to focus on increasing our long-term profitability," Major said. "We do not anticipate making further cuts but will continue to monitor market conditions."

Analysts said the housing decline appears to be slowing, but nobody will know for certain if there will be a rebound until the traditionally strong spring selling season begins.

"The jury is still out," said Kevin Lapwood, an analyst at Seymour Pierce in London. New home sales in the U.S. appear "to be leveling out, but there may be some more pain before there's gain," he said.

The housing industry needs to rid itself of a huge number of unsold homes, suggesting that new residential construction will continue to drop through the middle of the year, said Greg Geiber, a housing analyst for A.G. Edwards in St. Louis.

"We've never had so much inventory in the industry," Geiber said, adding that homes are still priced too high to sell quickly. "A lot of people think buyers will be back, but I don't think so until there are more meaningful cuts in house prices."

Founded as Carolina Builders in 1922, Stock was acquired by Wolseley in 1986. The company makes and sells structural components for homes, ranging from roof and floor trusses to wall panels. It also sells moldings for interior and exterior decorations, stairs, doors and window frames.

Declining construction during the five months that ended in December reduced demand for lumber and structural panels, which make up 45 percent of Stock's revenue, the company said. Lumber prices have fallen 22 percent, and panel prices are down 35 percent.

Demand for new housing dropped in parts of Florida and in Phoenix, Minneapolis, Detroit, San Diego and Las Vegas, the company said. Stronger markets included Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas.

None of the 22 branches being closed is in the Triangle, Wolseley spokeswoman Waters said, but she declined to name locations. Stock will continue to make acquisitions, she said.

Reading, England-based Wolseley, the world's largest supplier of plumbing and heating equipment, gets half of its sales in the United States, where Stock has annual sales of $5.3 billion.

Staff writer Dudley Price can be reached at (919) 829-4525 or dprice@newsobserver.com.

TI bests Q4 expectations, plans layoff

: TI bests Q4 expectations, plans layoff
Dylan McGrath
EE Times (01/22/2007 5:29 PM EST)
SAN FRANCISCO — Surprising Wall Street analysts who were expecting a weaker quarter, Texas Instruments Inc. Monday (Jan. 22) reported a net income of $668 million on sales of $3.46 billion for the fourth quarter of 2006. But the company issued a first quarter revenue outlook that fell below analyst expectations and announced plans to eliminate about 500 jobs. The fourth quarter net income of $668 million, which equates to 45 cents per share, was down 5 percent sequentially but up 2 percent year-to-year. Revenue of $3.46 billion was down 8 percent sequentially but up 4 percent year-to-year. Consensus analyst expectations had called for TI to report earnings per share of 38 cents and revenue of $3.43 billion. For fiscal 2006, TI (Dallas) reported a net income of $4.3 billion on record revenue of $14.25 billion. Net income for 2006, which equated to $1.69 per share, surged 82 percent from 2005, while revenue was up 16 percent. "TI delivered important financial achievements in 2006," said Rich Templeton, TI president and CEO. "Specifically, our semiconductor revenue grew more than one and a half times faster than the market, our earnings per share increased almost twice as fast as our revenue, and our return on invested capital expanded to 21.5 percent. Most important to these results was our high-performance analog product line, which grew revenue 33 percent and continued to raise the bar on gross margin for the entire company." Templeton said demand in the fourth quarter was "unseasonably weak," but that the company's profitability remained relatively stable. He credited TI's "hybrid manufacturing strategy," which is based on outsourcing a large percentage of TI's most costly production to semiconductor foundries. Templeton also announced a change in TI's product development strategy. Instead of creating its own core technology, TI will work with foundry partners to specify and drive the next generations of digital process technology, he said. TI will continue making products on these technologies in its own fabs, he added. He said TI would stop production at an older, unspecified fab and move its manufacturing equipment into several of its existing analog fabs. TI expects to save about $200 million through this strategy, Templeton said, and the company will eliminate about 500 jobs by the end of the year. TI's fourth quarter orders were $3.08 billion, the company said, down $352 million sequentially and down $411 year-to-year. The decreases were primarily due to lower demand for DSP and DLP products, the company said. For fiscal 2006, TI's orders were $14.02 billion, up $1.17 billion from 2005, due mostly to demand for analog products, the company said. TI said it invested $1.27 billion in capital expenditures in 2006, primarily for semiconductor test and assembly and advanced fab equipment. For the current quarter, TI said it expects revenue to be in the range of $3.01 billion to $3.28 billion. The company expects semiconductor revenue to be $2.95 billion to $3.2 billion for the first quarter, it said. Consensus analyst expectations had called for TI to report revenue of about $3.3 billion for the current quarter. The company said it would provide a mid-quarter financial update on March 12.

TI bests Q4 expectations, plans layoff

: TI bests Q4 expectations, plans layoff
Dylan McGrath
EE Times (01/22/2007 5:29 PM EST)
SAN FRANCISCO — Surprising Wall Street analysts who were expecting a weaker quarter, Texas Instruments Inc. Monday (Jan. 22) reported a net income of $668 million on sales of $3.46 billion for the fourth quarter of 2006. But the company issued a first quarter revenue outlook that fell below analyst expectations and announced plans to eliminate about 500 jobs. The fourth quarter net income of $668 million, which equates to 45 cents per share, was down 5 percent sequentially but up 2 percent year-to-year. Revenue of $3.46 billion was down 8 percent sequentially but up 4 percent year-to-year. Consensus analyst expectations had called for TI to report earnings per share of 38 cents and revenue of $3.43 billion. For fiscal 2006, TI (Dallas) reported a net income of $4.3 billion on record revenue of $14.25 billion. Net income for 2006, which equated to $1.69 per share, surged 82 percent from 2005, while revenue was up 16 percent. "TI delivered important financial achievements in 2006," said Rich Templeton, TI president and CEO. "Specifically, our semiconductor revenue grew more than one and a half times faster than the market, our earnings per share increased almost twice as fast as our revenue, and our return on invested capital expanded to 21.5 percent. Most important to these results was our high-performance analog product line, which grew revenue 33 percent and continued to raise the bar on gross margin for the entire company." Templeton said demand in the fourth quarter was "unseasonably weak," but that the company's profitability remained relatively stable. He credited TI's "hybrid manufacturing strategy," which is based on outsourcing a large percentage of TI's most costly production to semiconductor foundries. Templeton also announced a change in TI's product development strategy. Instead of creating its own core technology, TI will work with foundry partners to specify and drive the next generations of digital process technology, he said. TI will continue making products on these technologies in its own fabs, he added. He said TI would stop production at an older, unspecified fab and move its manufacturing equipment into several of its existing analog fabs. TI expects to save about $200 million through this strategy, Templeton said, and the company will eliminate about 500 jobs by the end of the year. TI's fourth quarter orders were $3.08 billion, the company said, down $352 million sequentially and down $411 year-to-year. The decreases were primarily due to lower demand for DSP and DLP products, the company said. For fiscal 2006, TI's orders were $14.02 billion, up $1.17 billion from 2005, due mostly to demand for analog products, the company said. TI said it invested $1.27 billion in capital expenditures in 2006, primarily for semiconductor test and assembly and advanced fab equipment. For the current quarter, TI said it expects revenue to be in the range of $3.01 billion to $3.28 billion. The company expects semiconductor revenue to be $2.95 billion to $3.2 billion for the first quarter, it said. Consensus analyst expectations had called for TI to report revenue of about $3.3 billion for the current quarter. The company said it would provide a mid-quarter financial update on March 12.

New York State Government Grows

Written By: E. J. McMahon and Kathryn McCall Published In: Budget & Tax News Publication Date: February 1, 2007 Publisher: The Heartland Institute

---

Employment and wage trends in New York State since the beginning of this decade could be described as a tale of two sectors: public and private.

According to the latest available data:

• While private employment has yet to recover to its 2000 pre-recession peak, New York has more state and local government employees than ever. (Recent rates of change in both categories are shown in Figure 1.)

• In 51 of New York's 62 counties, the average salary for state and local government jobs is higher than the private-sector average.

• When comparisons are narrowed to hourly wages for similar occupations, government workers earn more than employees of private firms in most job categories in the state's largest regions.

Private-Sector Job Losses

Private-sector employment in New York hit a record 7.2 million in late 2000, then plummeted in the wake of a national economic recession, the World Trade Center attack, and a sharp downturn in the stock market.

After losing more than 300,000 private-sector jobs between 2000 and 2003, the state began a slow economic recovery that has trailed the national average.

As of July 2006, private payrolls in New York remained about one-half of a percentage point below their July 2000 levels--a difference of some 40,300 jobs.

Government Job Increases

Despite plunging tax revenues early in the same period, state and local government employment in most regions of New York was barely affected by the economic shocks of 2001-03.

On a year-to-year basis, the number of state and local government jobs in New York has risen by 37,600 since October 2000.

The latest preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics employment estimate, as of October 2006, is the highest ever for that month, registering 1.38 million New York state and local government employees. The 1.36 million average for the first 10 months of 2006 (reflecting seasonal fluctuations) also indicates that government employment in New York may have reached a new record high in 2006.

As shown in Table 1, the most recent growth in state and local payrolls has occurred entirely outside New York City. Within the city, both private- and public-sector payrolls remain smaller than they were in 2000.

Job Losses Upstate

Private-sector employment increases in the Hudson Valley and Long Island have been offset by job losses upstate over the past six years, resulting in virtually no net change in private employment for regions outside New York City.

But state and local government employment in these same regions has grown by 7.9 percent since 2000. Even after subtracting Indian tribal payrolls--which the federal government reclassified as "local government" during this period--we estimate the net growth in state and local government jobs outside New York City has exceeded 6 percent since 2000.

State government employment has not increased significantly on a statewide basis, reflecting the impact of a 2002 early retirement incentive and a hiring freeze instituted the same year. The bulk of the public-sector increase has been concentrated in local governments.

New York's recent growth in public-sector jobs is consistent with national trends. State and local government employment across the country is up 7.4 percent over the past six years--nearly four times the 2 percent increase in private-sector jobs during the same period.

Higher Paying Government Jobs

Government jobs are not only virtually recession-proof; on average, in most New York communities, they pay more, too.

The latest estimated statewide average salary for all jobs in the state and local government sector was $45,956--only 87 percent of the private sector's $52,966 salary average. However, the private-sector figure is inflated by a large concentration of very highly paid jobs in Manhattan's financial sector.

When average salaries are broken down by place of work on a regional basis, a different picture emerges: in 51 of 62 New York counties, government workers collect higher average salaries than private-sector employees, as detailed in Table 2.

Public-Private Pay Comparisons

While government salaries average barely half the private level in Manhattan, government pay easily exceeds private-sector averages in the city's other four boroughs.

Aside from Manhattan, the 11 counties in which private-sector salaries exceed government salaries tend to be those with a large concentration of high-wage jobs in corporate management and the professions (Westchester), private colleges and universities (Tompkins), or manufacturing (Steuben) or some combination of all three (Monroe).

The Southern Tier is the only region other than New York City in which average private salaries are higher than government salaries. This reflects the relatively high wages paid by manufacturers in the region, such as Corning and Lockheed-Martin.

Higher Hourly Pay

A comparison of wages for similar occupations can be gleaned from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Compensation Survey, which includes data for private sector and government job titles. Figure 2 illustrates summary figures for "white collar" and "blue collar" workers in each of the New York regions covered by the national survey: New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Rochester, and Buffalo-Niagara Falls.

In all three regions, hourly wages for white-collar occupations are higher in government than in the private sector.

The difference is smallest in the New York City region, where government workers earn $3.42 an hour more, but the government pay advantage for white-collar occupations widens to $6.02 in the Rochester region and a whopping $10.04 per hour in Buffalo-Niagara Falls.

The work week is also at least three hours shorter for white-collar employees of state and local government in all three regions.

Blue-Collar Similarities

The differences are smaller for blue-collar occupations. Government workers in blue-collar jobs earn $4.14 more per hour in New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, but the government edge narrows to 87 cents per hour in the five-county Rochester region.

In the Buffalo-Niagara Falls region, blue-collar workers in the private sector earn $1.10 per hour more than state and local government workers in similar occupations--a difference that stems in large part from relatively high private-sector wages in the region's "precision, production, craft and repair" jobs.

The work week is longer for private-sector blue-collar workers in all three regions, but the differences between the two sectors are small, ranging from a half hour less in Buffalo-Niagara Falls to 1.4 hours in Rochester.

Government Workers' Better Benefits

Wages and salaries are only part of the compensation story. Government employees also enjoy an edge in several other significant respects:

More time off. Most government workers in New York are entitled to 12 paid holidays--two more than the average allowed by private employers. Many government workers (for example, those employed by New York State and New York City) can qualify for four weeks of paid vacation (plus holidays) after as little as seven years; in the private sector, most workers need to put in 15 years before getting four weeks of vacation. For school district employees, of course, time off per year is measured in months rather than weeks.

Bigger retirement benefits. It has been well documented that pensions and health benefits for retired public-sector workers in New York are significantly more generous than those available to private-sector workers. On average, government workers can retire earlier and receive more from their former employers in retirement, including guaranteed pensions and health benefits, on top of federal Social Security and Medicare.

Greater job security. Union contracts and civil service guidelines provide most government workers with the equivalent of tenure. Layoffs are rare, even in severe economic downturns. More often than not, elected officials respond to budget shortfalls by raising taxes, freezing hiring, and offering experienced employees even more generous pensions as an incentive to retire early.

Unionization Trends

Although union membership is in a long-term decline across the country, New York remains the nation's most heavily unionized state by a large margin. More than 2 million New York State workers are union members, and fully half of them work in the public sector. One of every eight workers in the Empire State is a unionized government employee; in the rest of the country, the ratio is roughly one of every 19 workers. (See Figure 3.)

Between 1995 and 2005, union membership in New York's manufacturing sector dropped by 55 percent (roughly twice the overall rate of decline in the state's manufacturing employment base), yet total private-sector union membership in New York increased roughly 4 percent during the same period.

---

E. J. McMahon is director and Kathryn McCall is research associate at the Empire Center for New York State Policy. (Both may be reached at info@empirecenter.org.) Originally published in Research Bulletin No. 1.1, September 1, 2006. Used by permission.

Labor Department Predicts Strong Employment Growth For Blue-Collar Jobs

By Andrea Lyn Van Benschoten, Web Editor, Manufacturing.net
Manufacturing.Net - January 15, 2007

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting strong growth and competitive wages for blue-collar jobs through 2014.

According to a CareerBuilder.com article, there will be positive industry growth for many blue-collar positions.

Based on data from the BLS, construction and extraction jobs are expected to grow 12 percent by 2014. Installation, maintenance and repair jobs have a predicted jobs growth of 11.4 percent and transportation and material moving will increase employment by 11.1 percent.

The “Top Ten” blue-collar jobs though 2014
1. Construction and Building Inspectors (employment growth of 18-26 percent)
2. Waste and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
3. Elevator Installer and Repairers (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
4. Subway and Streetcar Operators (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
5. Iron and metal Workers (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
6. Electricians (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
7. Brickmasons, Blockmasons and Stonemasons (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
8. Plumbers Pipelayers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters (employment growth of 9-17 percent)
9. Heating, Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration Mechanics and installers (employment growth of 18-23 percent)
10. Carpenters (employment growth of 9-17 percent)

January, 2007: A Tsunami is Coming

It's been a while since I've been this late with my thoughts about the job market. Please accept my apologies. I believe you'll find my thoughts worthwhile.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll find I've been bullish about the labor market for some time and, in particular, the technology labor market. I have written about some of these before in piece meal fashion let me put it all together.

Toward the end of last year, we entered a period that will shaped by unprecedent labor shortages in the "developed world" (interpret that as the US and Western Europe.

In the US, there are several factors that have come together to create this vortex of events. They are part demographic; part is caused by government interference. Part is derived by the impact of the 9/11 depression.

The government tracked the last recession and say it began in March 2001 and ended in January, 2002. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. In fact, for the labor markets, it, too began in March, 2001 and would have ended in August/September, 2001 were it not for 9/11. The impact of that horrible day was that, as a nation, we were collectively traumatized and companies went into survival mode.

In doing so, millions throughout the country were laid off, new business creation halted and small and large businesses failed. In technology, the government reported that, on average, 200000 jobs per year were lost. My opinion is that the real numbers were actually far larger than the government statistics.

This was a heavily white collar recession. In fact, it was the first US recession to hit technology workers and hit them it did. Technical workers who were fired were older and younger and found it difficult to find work. A common story was one of someone who had been in demand now finding that it took more than a year to find work again.

Their children, seeing their parents suffering through job loss, financial difficulties or ruin, abandoned the idea of considering a career in technology and went in other directions.

Our politicians, hearing an outcry from affected voters against outsourcing and against cheaper foreign workers coming to our country and taking jobs from out of work Americans, reduced the H-1b visa program from approximately 230000 foreign workers per year to 65000.

Then you need to remember this—the baby boom was followed by the baby bust. We have fewer workers entering our labor markets to begin with because their parents delayed having children and then cut back on the supplement we have used(immigration) to support our nation’s labor needs, particularly for skilled labor.

Is it any wonder that many of you are finding it difficult to hire skilled professionals? And that when you hire them, you are paying far more for them than you would have years ago?

This confluence of events can only be alleviated by two conditions—time and/or a revision in the immigration laws to allow more workers into the United States.

Time in that the demographic cohort soon to enter the workforce behind Gen-X and Gen-Y is fairly large—more in keeping with previous groups entering the system.

But that won’t alleviate the pressure that will exist for the next few years where there are just not enough workers to satisfy projected demand.

This more, far more than the decline in real estate prices, may be the cause of the end of the boom in our economy. Unless we have workers, who do you hire?

For the immediate term, companies need to map a course to retain their talent, attract people to their organization while concurrently purging their worst performers.

For job hunters, this will be a second golden era of employment. For several years, talented people will have abundant choices. Firms will be increasing wages to their talent in an effort to retain them

Boomers entering retirement years will be highly sought after, rather than simply discarded and previous generations have been.

Given the technology available, telecommuting will give organizations the choice to retain the services of Moms throughout the early parenting years that normally cause women to leave the workforce and offer them flexible hours.

Yes, it will be an interesting few years.

Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com

© 2007 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

If you have a question that you would like me to answer, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free meta job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to learn about his VIP program, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsesarchuniverse@gmail.com.

For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com .

If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume).

Change may cut 400 jobs in PBI takeover

Friday, January 19, 2007 By BETSY QUERNA HERALD NEWS

St. Mary's Hospital plans to lay off between 300 and 400 staff members when it takes over PBI Regional Medical Center at the end of February, according to documents filed by St. Mary's with the state.

About 1,500 people work at the two hospitals, according to the state documents, and St. Mary's anticipates that only 1,100 to 1,200 will be needed at the new hospital.

The actual number of employees let go may be less than the projected numbers, said St. Mary's executive vice president Robert Iannaccone since both hospitals have positions open.

"Our goal is not to lose people in this process," he said.

PBI filed for bankruptcy in July and put the hospital up for sale. In December, St. Mary's $36.7 million bid was accepted in court. The deal is scheduled to close and ownership of the hospital transferred on Feb. 28.

Iannaccone said the hospital doesn't yet know which departments will face layoffs, but that it is not likely to be in nursing or technician positions.

"Chances are we're going to need every single one of those techs and every single one of those nurses," he said. But, because of the consolidation, other types of job may be lost. "There's less space to clean," he said, hinting that some maintenance staff might not be needed.

PBI's interim CEO Bob Lyons sent all employees a letter at the end of December notifying them that they may be laid off. The letter is required by a federal law that compels employers to notify employees in the case of a closure or mass layoff.

"February 28, 2007 will be your last day of employment with PBI," the letter said.

On Jan. 12, St. Mary's CEO Patricia Peterson sent a letter to PBI employees informing them that some would be laid off. She attributed the layoffs to duplication of services at both locations that no longer would be needed and to a lack of money.

In the letter, Peterson called St. Mary's financial situation "precarious" and said St. Mary's employees had not been given a general wage increase in more than two years.

"St. Mary's will be significantly restricted in the wages and benefits it can provide to its new work force for the future," Peterson wrote.

Iannaccone said the hospital knew that it would have to pay its employees fair market value. "When you're competing for a nurse, you have to pay for that nurse," he said.

In her letter, Peterson also pleaded for help and understanding from employees to make the new hospital a success. "We view this move as a last best effort to provide acute health care services for the residents of Passaic....If we fail there will be no hospital."

At PBI, the mood among employees is "tense but hopeful," said Anne Rohe, a nurse and local union president. "Most people that I know are wanting to stay working at 350 Boulevard (PBI's address) and are hopeful that this will be successful."

One worry, she said, is that the new St. Mary's contract will not give those employees, who are not hired by the hospital layoff, pay, benefits, or some of the rights they would have in a typical layoff.

"Right now, people are hoping and expecting to hear something from the people who might be hiring them at St. Mary's."

Reach Betsy Querna at 973-569-7169 or querna@northjersey.com.

EMPLOYMENT DATA: Report: New Jersey added 2,000 jobs

New Jersey employers added 2,000 jobs from November to December and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent, according to estimates released Wednesday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The agency's monthly survey of employers found that the number of people working on nonfarm payrolls rose to 4,085,000 in December, an increase of 2,000.

Based on additional data provided by employers, November's originally reported over-the-month gain of 900 was revised downward to 200 for a November employment level of 4,083,000.

Enloe set to eliminate 179 jobs

Enloe set to eliminate 179 jobs

By LARRY MITCHELL - Staff Writer

Article Launched: 01/12/2007 12:10:15 AM PST

It was a grim day at Enloe Medical Center Thursday, as 179 employees learned their jobs were being eliminated.

Officials said 79 of those workers might be able to take other jobs at Enloe.

The cuts affect workers in several categories. Hardest hit were the certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Ninety-one of them received layoff notices. The others who got notices were 13 registered nurses, eight administrators, 34 clerical workers and 33 members of the technical staff.

Hospital leaders said the cuts are needed because costs are rising faster than revenue.

"To be a sustainable organization, you have to make some adjustments," said Darby Makel, chairman of Enloe's board of trustees, in an interview Thursday.

Reducing the work force by 5 percent is one of several elements in what hospital officials are calling "an intensive performance improvement plan."

A big goal is saving money, but officials said they also hope they can provide better service even while reducing the staff.

The financial squeeze Enloe now feels is something hospitals around the nation are experiencing, Makel said.

The money pinch has a number of causes, including the shortage of nurses, rising costs of medical technology and a shortage of physicians, he added.

Another factor is the rising cost of Enloe's upcoming expansion, the Century Project. Two years ago the price of building a five-story hospital tower, a multideck parking structure and a community park was put at $85 million. Now it's pegged at $130 million.

But even if Enloe wasn't doing the Century Project, the cost cutting would be necessary, Makel said.

"This has been a tough week for the hospital — it's about people," said Beth O'Brien, Enloe's interim CEO. She, Makel and hospital spokesperson Laura Hennum discussed the cuts with an Enterprise-Record reporter Thursday morning.

According to a memo distributed to Enloe's 2,205 employees Thursday, the 179 positions were to be eliminated as of March 12. Also, 36 employees were to have their hours reduced.

O'Brien said the picture wasn't quite as bleak as it might at first appear. Seventy-nine of the 179 workers would be eligible to apply for about 60 new or existing unfilled positions at Enloe.

Those included 24 CNA positions with different duties, Hennum said. Where CNAs have been doing direct patient care, the new plan calls for them to help nurses by lifting and transporting patients.

Also, 22 of the CNAs who got notices are studying to be RNs, she said. When they complete their studies, they would be hired as nurses at Enloe.

The 13 RNs who received layoff notices will be offered other nursing jobs at Enloe involving work at the bedside.

Hennum said patients will benefit from the change since RNs will be doing more direct patient care than they have been.

For the last three months, two committees including senior managers and physicians have been analyzing Enloe's situation. A consulting firm, Navigant, was hired to help with the process.

One goal is to achieve a $20 million cut in Enloe's annual expenses by 2011. The layoffs announced Thursday should reduce expenses by $5 million to $6 million a year, Makel said.

He said statistics show Enloe is overstaffed compared to similar hospitals.

In judging how appropriately a hospital is staffed, he said, experts talk in terms of "full-time equivalents per adjusted occupied bed. "Enloe is well over six per bed while comparable hospitals around the state are "in the mid-fours."

Other elements of the "performance improvement plan" that have been put in place include improving purchasing of supplies, streamlining billing practices and "enhancing case-management protocols."

More initiatives are planned over the next 18 to 24 months.

As they left the hospital to go home Thursday, several Enloe workers told an E-R reporter it had been a difficult day.

"People go through a whole range of emotions — anxiety, nervousness, sadness," said Laurie Weimer, a secretary in the hospital's education center. "There's a lot of anger and sadness yet to come."

Weimer, who has worked at Enloe for 25 years, said she didn't get a layoff notice. But like most employees she was affected emotionally.

People don't like the prospect of their friends' leaving and "don't like to see co-workers hurting," she said.

O'Brien said Enloe will work with employees who got notices, trying to ensure that their lives are disrupted as little as possible.

"We're hopeful we'll be successful in helping many find their next position within the next 60 days," she said.

Staff writer Larry Mitchell can be reached at 896-7759 or lmitchell@chicoer.com.

BACKGROUND: For three months, leaders of Enloe Medical Center have been considering how to make the hospital more efficient and financially secure.

WHAT'S NEW: On Thursday, 179 Enloe employees were told their jobs will be eliminated in 60 days. Some are eligible to be rehired.

WHAT'S NEXT: Enloe plans other initiatives to try to reduce its annual expenses by $20 million by 2011.

PHA delivers layoff notices to about 350

By Larry Eichel

Inquirer Senior Writer

Citing severe federal budget cuts, the Philadelphia Housing Authority announced yesterday that it was laying off about 350 employees, roughly 22 percent of its 1,600-person workforce.

PHA Executive Director Carl R. Greene said the layoffs, which he has warned about for months, would do particular damage to the authority's maintenance operations, meaning tenants will face longer waits for repairs.

At a news conference at PHA's Martin Luther King Plaza in South Philadelphia, Greene placed the blame for the layoffs on the Bush administration, which has reduced the budget for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development more than 20 percent during the last six years.

"In Washington, 'the Decider' has decided to abandon the nation's mission of serving the very low income, those people who are elderly and those who are disabled," Greene said.

PHA's police force also will take a major hit. It is slated to lose 20 officers and about 10 other security personnel, leaving it with 50 officers in all.

Greene said that having fewer police officers - and a diminished capability to evict problem tenants promptly - could result in an increase in crime in PHA neighborhoods. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson expressed a similar concern last week.

At the South Philadelphia headquarters of the PHA Police Department, one officer described the mood as "a funeral." The laid-off officers were required to give up their badges and weapons immediately, although they'll remain on the payroll for two weeks.

"Right now, we're trying to weigh our options and see what we can do to preserve jobs," said Rodney Little, president of the Fraternal Order of Housing Police. "Carl Greene and his people act as if public housing is a safe haven for residents, and it's just not true."

Mayor Street said he was working with the local congressional delegation and national Democratic leaders to get more money for housing.

"The layoffs announced today by PHA may be the inevitable result of the Bush administration's ill-advised housing policies, but they need not be permanent," Street said in a statement. "Our administration is committed to fighting these cuts and with the new majorities in control of Congress, we remain optimistic these policies can and will be reversed."

The moves will save PHA about $24 million this year. Once the layoffs are implemented, PHA will have about half as many employees as in 2000.

The cutbacks were prompted by an advisory issued Dec. 28 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington.

In that document, HUD said it would fund all local housing authorities this year at 76 percent of the amount a HUD-commissioned study says is needed for them to operate at an optimal level. Last year, funding was at 86 percent.

HUD officials have said the lower funding level was the result of rising utility costs and Congress' failure last fall to pass a new budget.

"Until Congress passes a new budget, HUD can only fund the [nation's] 3,200 public housing agencies at 76 percent," a department spokeswoman said yesterday.

Other housing authorities in the region, several of which were represented at Greene's news conference, have reacted to the federal funding cut with layoffs of their own. The authority in Newark, N.J., for example, has dismissed 300 workers, a third of its staff.

"We're seeing the demise of public housing in America," said Maria Maio, the housing chief in Jersey City.

Today, PHA will close its offices as part of a "Day of Silence" to protest the federal cuts and demonstrate what it would be like if housing agencies went out of business. Several other authorities, including those in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, are expected to do the same.

For now, Greene said, the cuts will not get in the way of PHA's plans to build 300 units of housing this year in West and North Philadelphia.

But the future offers no guarantees, he said, adding that he may ask the PHA board for authority to begin selling off scattered-site properties - some of which are vacant and expensive to maintain - to raise money for basic operations.

---

Contact senior writer Larry Eichel at 215-854-2415 or leichel@phillynews.com.

Sprint Nextel Will Layoff 5,000 After Loss Of Subscribers

Sprint had a net loss of 300,000 subscribers in the last quarter, and its stock promptly plunged 10% on the news.

By W. David Gardner
InformationWeek

Jan 9, 2007 01:19 PM

Sprint Nextel, still struggling to digest the merger of the two companies while forging ahead with advanced wireless technologies, announced it had a net loss of 300,000 subscribers in the last quarter and plans to lay off 5,000 employees. The company's stock promptly plunged 10% Tuesday on the news.

Gary D. Forsee, the company's chairman and chief executive, said the company continued to experience "decreased demand" for its integrated Digital Enhanced Network as well as "increased churn" of subscribers. Subscribers to iDEN typically used Nextel services on a hodgepodge of spectrum that Sprint, the dominant company in the merger, is attempting to meld together.

"We expect the widespread introduction of our first combined CDMA-iDEN phones and improvements in iDEN network performance to benefit push-to-talk subscriber trends," said Forsee, attempting to put a positive spin on the firm's financial statement.

While the company brags about the 2.5-GHz spectrum it picked up from Nextel in the merger, Sprint Nextel has been challenged to bring Nextel subscribers, many of whom utilized older public safety bands, over to the new networks.

Sprint has an ambitious deployment of 3G and 4G networks under way and has enlisted major partners Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia in the effort. Forsee acknowledged the challenge that faces the company. "In the near term," he said, "a lower margin revenue mix, investment of an additional $1.1 billion in our business operations, and startup costs associated with the build-out of our fourth-generation WiMax wireless network will pressure profitability."

The company is racing to attempt to staunch the flow of Nextel iDEN customers while seeking to sign up customers for the advanced wireless networks Sprint hopes to have in place in the coming months. Forsee noted that the company is the first U.S. mobile phone service provider to begin deploying CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev A, an advanced wireless infrastructure provided by Qualcomm.

In its financial outlook update, Forsee said Sprint Nextel expects to report operating revenues of $41 billion for 2006. "We will continue to adjust our cost structure," Forsee said, "which will include a workforce reduction, as we meet the changing demands of the business."

Boston Scientific to layoff up to 600

Arden Hills targeted

Staff Report

Boston Scientific said this afternoon it will cut 500 to 600 research and development jobs, with most cuts to come at the former Guidant cardiac rhythm management unit in Arden Hills.

The move is part of a restructuring announced by the Natick, Massachusetts-based company as it also reported a 13 percent gain in defibrillator sales in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three-month period.

The cuts are part of a plan by the medical device manufacturer to focus on "a more selective number of research and development products," the company said in a release.

"This plan will shift resources from less productive products to more productive ones, reinvigorating our product pipeline and driving top-line growth," said Jim Tobin, president and CEO of Boston Scientific.

The job losses at Boston Scientific will come from research and development areas along with other functions. Decisions on which individual jobs will be cut will be made in coming weeks and the process should be complete by mid-February. Affected employees will be offered severance packages, outplacement services and other support.

Boston Scientific last year edged out Johnson & Johnson in a bidding war for Guidant, which has been dogged by questions about the reliability of key products. The Massachusetts company employs about 6,000 people here, including its stent-making operations in the western Twin Cities. Companywide, Boston Scientific employs 29,000 people.

EMC boosts layoff figures

Boston Business Journal - 9:29 AM EST Monday

EMC Corp., coming off a string of acquisitions, is cutting more jobs as it consolidates its operations.

The Hopkinton-based tech company said late Friday that it plans to cut 1,350 jobs by the end of 2007, 100 more than the company originally announced in October. EMC, which makes data storage systems, also said it planned to take a pretax charge of $175 million in its fourth quarter to pay for the restructuring -- at the high end of its original estimate.

<A HREF="http://dc.bizjournals.com/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=17794&AdID=26625&TargetID=295&Segments=1,16,304,1680,1968,3110,3301,3536,3561,3622,3652,3838,3862,4117,4282,4455,4456,4512,4525&Targets=3394,61,295,1539,1809,2899,3078,3301,3326,3381,3411,3593,3619,3866,4027,4191,4193,4248,4262&Values=30,46,50,60,72,85,90,100,110,150,202,282,324,473,565,730,750,830,872,894,949,956,959,960,961,962,971,994,996,997,1009&RawValues=GEOMAJORMETRO%2Clos%2520angeles%2CDOMAINTYPE%2C8%2CST_VERT_TOPIC%2Cbusiness_services__human_resources&Redirect=http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/rec_server_networksol?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://ll.bizjournals.com/ads/dc/microsoft/newyearStatic2.jpg" WIDTH=336 HEIGHT=280 BORDER=0></A>

Still, EMC (NYSE: EMC) has continued to hire in key areas, off-setting some of the job reductions. EMC has 8,000 workers in Massachusetts and has dozens of jobs advertised on its Web. The company is primarily adding technical workers to develop hardware and software.