Mass Layoffs Surge In January, Highest Since July 2009
The BLS has reported Mass Layoff Statistics for January 2010 - the result is plain ugly, and kills any hope for sustained improvement in unemployment data. Not seasonally adjusted Mass Layoff Events (defined as at least 50 persons being laid off from a single employer) surged in January to 2,860, from 2,310 in January, from a 12 month low of 1,371 in September 2009. This is the biggest monthly surge since July when the Mass Layoff Events hit a 12 month high of 3,054. In terms of actual workers, January saw 278,679 initially laid off people. The deterioration was mirrored in the much less credible seasonally adjusted data. Obviously companies were waiting for the end of the year to dump as many people as they could.
The BLS data is charted below:
(4 votes)
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on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 10:55
#241543
Rich people still have jobs, poor people don't
Read more: http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2010/02/10/rich-people-still-have-jobs-poor-people-dont/#more-8551#ixzz0gNJ55uRp
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 17:40
#242365
Yes, except for the extremely wealthy, 'rich people' are only rich untill they lose their job, then they become poor too. I guess that will make you happy when everybody is in the soup kitchen line.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 19:35
#242535
I'd be happy when everyone is in the soup line? I didn't imply anything. I added a link depicting unemployment by salary level and copied the title of the posting. Duuude, get a grip....
on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 06:36
#242939
Your choice of descriptors implied it for you. You are playing the class warfare card my socialist friend. Without people with money to spend there are no jobs for those poor downtrodden folks. Gov't does not create wealth.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 10:59
#241558
i just wanted to do the math question
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:58
#241661
LOL. I failed math, so I had to join.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:11
#241697
Exactly. Since I only have 10 fingers and 10 toes, any number above 20 was a real pain in the ass. After the first few times of asking my secretary to remove her shoes and show me her hands so I could count to 40, she threatened me with a sexual harassment lawsuit. Either I joined ZH or I got sued. It was an easy choice.
BTW, my secretary has great feet. Now I finally understand what a foot fetish is all about. :>))
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:53
#241935
Thanks, man! I really appreciate the tip.
I've been trying to get my new neighbor to remove her shoes....
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 14:29
#242006
I've always been able to get to 21 with no problem...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 14:57
#242071
Ah yes, from the male point of view, the most important "digit" of them all. How could I have forgotten where the real brains of the operation resides?
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 18:29
#242432
I thought I was the only one who did this.
You sir are a geek.
cpu
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:10
#241560
TD why do you always dismiss SA data? This is no bash, just a question. Your graph shows a very clear seasonal pattern. Ignoring it looks a bit cheeky. There may be errors in seasonal adjustment model, and you're welcome to point them out if you see them, but it's certainly not completely off. It's very much par for the course to lay off more people in January, and you can quite clearly see that in the recurring spikes in the NSA graph.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:26
#241602
Why adjust in the first place? Intelligent observers would be aware of seasonal factors anyway, and markets will discount them. Statistics is data. Application of seasonal adjustments to this data is analysis. Analysis can be good or bad. BLS should concentrate on accuracy of its data so that its "revisions" cannot be as ridiculous as it happens to GDP data, and leave analysis to others.
That's not even to mention that their "adjustments" only err on one side..
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:56
#241655
That's like saying they shouldn't do statistics at all. Part of a job that: running regressions to get as high degree of confidence as possible. And if you leave the seasonality in, your regression turns out noisy as hell: what you didn't model in the variables ends up in the epsilon.
Can I run that regression? Sure, but that would involve me keeping a spreadsheet with this data going back a whole number of years. I don't have that kind of time, but I do like to look at meaningful information.
If you don't trust BLS statisticians - fine, that's your prerogative. But then can you show me a model that works better? Shouldn't be all that hard for an intelligent observer.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 17:00
#242307
Data collection and data analysis are two different things by definition.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:08
#241685
I think the essential point that's been missed isn't that mass layoffs tend to happen in January, but the relationship between the severity of the event and the overall U3/U6 statistics when these occur. Lower mass layoff spikes are going to impact the economy less severely when the U3 is 6%, as opposed to a higher spike when it's pushing 10%.
Basically, people who used seasonal jobs to survive last year no longer have them, so if the U3 goes up again this month, I wouldn't be surprised.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:54
#241938
Wrong, because Nov-Dec stats indicate minimal to almost little seasonal hiring.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:46
#241924
i do not believe that sa gives a whole picture....although
there may be some value in it as you suggest, the recent
tumult in the economy puts in doubt that the old sa
models apply....i think it is instructive to look at the
series with and without....
i have no idea how the weightings over time regress so
seeing it in the raw provides an additional perspective
which the sa masks....
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:00
#241561
Not surprising. We're about to see the second leg of the equity unwind, companies have become very defensive again, the true extent of the bloodbath in December is becoming known and everyone's getting in position for the dance. I believe that 2010 will be a nasty year all told.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:03
#241566
To preserve gross/operating margins and those better than expected EPS labor will continue to be "managed" for efficiencies. In the meantime, expect better nominal toplines on lower volumes. Chalk another one up for the incredible shrinking middle class.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:07
#241568
Nice streak of good news today. Creeeeeak....
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:31
#241749
Heh, heh. And yeah, after that, I get the Sara Connor Syndrome moments, but then I let the whiskey kick in.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:14
#241584
PMs and Dow Down. They have been tracking together a while.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:18
#241597
Well if they fire people now, then they can get a tax break when they hire them back, once the "JOBS" bill passes.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:34
#241761
Gun and ammo stores and pawnshops are hiring...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:19
#241599
Leo!? Leo? Anybody? Bueller?
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:46
#241626
I miss Cetin. I can't see the word "surge" without thinking of him fondly....
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:51
#241640
I think it's ALL CLEAR for the SPX (yes, SPX) to rise to 10,000 now.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:51
#241643
Buy the dips!
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:52
#241645
My GOD just hit this planet with an asteroid and lets be done with it.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:56
#241656
If this Obama economy turns into an official Depression...can we official name it the O'pression???
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:10
#241695
Whatta fine idea. Psst... we're already there.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 11:58
#241659
Totally validates everyones expectations.
Get government out of the stats business.
Get government out of the bank business.
Get government out of the car business.
Get government out of the hospital business.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:02
#241670
Nice about stats. Who's gonna do them then? Goldman Sachs? S&P? And you gonna trust them?
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:32
#241752
Yeah um, its called Shadowstats.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:12
#241835
Shadowstats uses government stats as its data base.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:28
#241741
Put this government out of business, period.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 14:57
#242070
Not until I get another job! I need my gov't job--only source of income (yeah, I know... but for now the fiat paper buys freeze dried food and silver).
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:09
#241689
1000 people to be laid off by the MTA in NY today
1000 people to be laid off inthe San Fran school system today.
The htis just keep on coming and coming. Gotta love greenshoots you can take home and smoke....easier to deal witht he pain that way.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:23
#241725
Kmart closing in Austin, MN -- 1000 jobs gone
http://www.startribune.com/business/85002812.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
75-year old Stephens Supply in once booming Fuquay-Varina (Raleigh/Durham suburb) closing 2 of 3 divisions.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/19/346707/stephens-supply-cuts-back.html
Although the job loss number is small, going from 55 to 15, I'm posting this because I believe the CEO's comment is much closer to the truth than anything we'll hear on CNBS:
"We just decided that the duration of the downturn had been too long and we don't see any end to it," Carver said. "We just decided it was not practical to stick it out for the return" of the building business."
-- Wayne Carver, CEO
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:22
#242111
1) There's a K-Mart still open somewhere?
2) K-Mart employs 1000 people at a store? See question #1.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:37
#242143
"That brings to 56 the number of stores that the owner of Sears and Kmart has said over the past year that it will close. About 1,000 jobs will be affected."
Good call, Max
on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 01:22
#242841
MMax, thanks so much for catching this... it's Sears Holdings closing 21 stores, totalling 1,000 jobs lost. that did sound like a lot for a MN Kmart, should have verified. please accept my apologies.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:13
#241700
Aside from the empirical fact that unemployment levels are as bad as, if not worse than, the Great Depression, admittedly there is an important difference.
In the 30s the labor force actually grew.
Where did you go Joe? A nation bids its' unemployed adieu...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:20
#241714
PPI up CPI declines. Producers can't pass costs to customers. More layoffs to cut overhead. More unemployed. Less demand
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:21
#241719
Peter Schiff's Ultimate Prediction, Will he be wrong?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny5QxZBGJtY
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:30
#241744
Schiff pronounces it "Barack O-Baja" at the very end of this clip. Methinks it was intentional.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 12:35
#241736
Not To Worry Everyone: BLS Has The Answer!
From Bill the Brain at Calculated Risk:
Five Million Workers to Exhaust Unemployment Benefits by June
"1.2 million workers facing a cut off of benefits in March"
"There are a record 6.31 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks (and still want a job). This is a record 4.1% of the civilian workforce. (note: records started in 1948)."
You see without unemployment insurance, the BLS will now classify those 1.2 million workers in March as "Marginally Attached" and no longer unemployed by U3.
See, better already...
Then President Barry O-Hoover will announce the stimulus has "saved" another 1.2 million jobs...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:02
#242083
The beatings will continue until morale improves...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 22:14
#242685
"The beatings will continue until morale improves..."
Moral will be the referendum item up for vote come November 2010...
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:16
#241847
Just to throw some fuel on the fire, I'm a programmer at HP and we just had a series of layoffs this week. Nothing new, but let me add this. We are an account of about 500 people with firings/layoffs occuring every 2 weeks for about 3-4 employees, I can account for these layoffs since we get emails with their announcements for security purposes.... in case they decide to make a last minute trip to the office.
This week, we went through another series of layoffs, but this time with no announcements. Asking my buddy who is the manager of a different department what the deal is, so kindly informed me that they were instructed not to send out notifications due to the massive amount of emails that would be "flooding" our inbox.
I find this strange because when we were originally acquired by HP (former EDS man here) and the big "belt-tightening" moves made another time afterwards, there were no qualms made when it came to sending out the emails... hell I made a rule for my inbox to put them all in a special folder just so I can watch the ticker count higher as they week went by.
Just something to speculate on for the February numbers. :-)
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 13:23
#241865
Don't fret....
Wow...look at the job the stimulus saved...
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- After resigning as president and CEO of General Motors in December, Fritz Henderson might have gone into hiding or decided to sit out the harsh Michigan winter on a Florida beach.
Fritz Henderson is back at GM, for $3,000 an hour
Instead, here he is popping up again, this time as a consultant to GM on international operations at the very fancy fee of $59,090 a month for 20 hours of work a month. That works out to almost $3,000 an hour for a CEO who was ousted after just eight months on the job.
http://tinyurl.com/yz4trjj
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:23
#242113
1) $3000/hr is not bad money.
2) Given all the overtones of this, kinda makes you think that the newly installed Obama appointees at the auto companies are in so far over their head, they're somewhere down in the mantle.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 14:38
#242018
According to the MSM the "Zombie Health Care Bill" and Toyota's proctology exam are much more important than these disemployment numbers.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:01
#242080
I thought we were suppose to be watching CNBC... :P
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 15:39
#242147
Just a note that the adjusted number is 1761 mass lay offs. I understand the BLS is not considered the source for all that is worthy in stats, but it seems like a substantial enough number from the unadjusted number , that it is worth looking into further. It's also interesting to compare the adjusted number to to other months in the recession
You'll find it doesn't really stick out in any manner. I guess I'm curious why the adjusted number wasn't worthy of being mentioned.
h/t to silveroz - DailyKos
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 18:49
#242463
Am I still good at math?
I just want to see. Kinda like walking a straight line after a couple-a sasparillas.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 20:55
#242610
So, the rich still have their jobs and the poor don't. That kind of makes obama's idea that you grow the economy from the bottom up. Stupid theories are endorsed by stupid people.
on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 20:56
#242613
So the rich are still working and the poor aren't. Kind of kills the obama theory of growing the economy from the bottom up.
on Wed, 02/24/2010 - 08:42
#242996
I use the empty road measure. I've been out of work since November, and my wife tells me that there is almost no traffic during rush hour on the road I take to work.
on Sat, 04/17/2010 - 09:19
#305538
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