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Yet in the
holiday season, the administration is forced to celebrate a higher than
expected payroll increase for temporary, part time seasonal workers, and at
least temporarily, Bush’s latest approval numbers enjoy a rise instead of a
decline. In
addition to the base closures in 2006, add this into the mix and there are more
than enough reasons for economic insecurity: Housing market decline in 2006 could claim
800,000 jobs: The
forecast said 8 of the last 10 economic recessions were started by housing
market slowdowns. Though the coming cooldown will
cause a drag on the nation’s economy, it will fall short of triggering a
recession, the forecast said. The
report cited several signs that the decline could be under way: ·
New
construction of housing in October was down 5.6 percent from the previous
month, with new construction of single-family housing accounting for a 3.7
percent dip. ·
New
home sales have declined. ·
Applications
for home mortgages have trended downward since late September as rates
increased. ·
In
some regions, homes are remaining unsold longer and the pace of housing
construction is outpacing population growth, which could spell a decline in demand. “On
all these grounds, we believe housing is due for a sustained decline,”
economist Michael Bazdarich wrote in the forecast. “The remaining questions are
how hard the fall will be and when it will begin.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10364485/ from
today's Globe&Mail Ed Planned U.S. job cuts surge By ROMA LUCIW Wednesday, December 7,
2005 Posted at 12:45 PM EST Globe and Mail The number of pink slips
companies were planning to hand out surged 22 per cent to 99,279 in November
from October, according to a monthly tally from Challenger, Gray &
Christmas Inc. The jump in
month-over-month layoff announcements was fuelled by the "heavy
downsizing" in the automotive and government sectors, the global
outplacement firm said Wednesday. It also noted that job-cutting picks up at
the end of the year as companies try to meet earnings and budget goals. It is the third month in
the a row that planned U.S. layoffs have risen, Challenger said. The November
planned jobs cuts are the highest since July's total of 102,971, although they
are 5 per cent below the 104,530 unveiled in November, 2004. So far this year, U.S.
companies have announced 964,232 job cuts, 3.6 per cent more than at this point
in 2004. If the pattern holds next month, the 2005 job-cut total will top the
2004 tally of 1,039,735, making it the fifth consecutive year where employers
trimmed more than a million jobs. "Downsizing in the
auto industry is expected to continue well into the new year, as companies try
to bring production capacity in line with the reality of the market," said
John Challenger, the company's chief executive. He noted that nearly
half of the November auto-related planned job cuts happened at the supplier
level, and that a rebound to job growth for the industry and its supply chain
does not appear possible in the near future. "They must deal
with significant overcapacity issues, labour issues, and — the elephant on all
of their backs — the issue of under-funded and over-burdened pension
plans," Mr. Challenger said. "It is a mess that will take years to
address." Almost 11 per cent of
this year's job cuts this year have stemmed from the automotive sector, which
has announced 105,886 cuts this year, including 16,870 in November, the
Challenger report said. On Wednesday, the Detroit
News reported that Ford Motor Co. executives have drafted a plan to close at
least 10 North American factories and eliminate 25,000 to 30,000 blue-collar
jobs within five years. Ailing General Motors
Corp. announced last month that it is slashing 30,000 jobs (including roughly
3,900 jobs in Canada) and closing plants and service centres across North
America. On top of the impending
flood of job losses in the automotive sector, the U.S. economy is about to feel
the effects of massive military base closures. "While military
personnel will be re-stationed, the civilian workers that manned these bases
and the all of the workers in local businesses that benefited from the bases
are starting to lose their jobs," Mr. Challenger said. "On top of this,
state and local governments are still suffering from budget deficits that are
forcing continued job cuts." Nonprofit and government
employers, particularly those at the state and local level, are also making
major cuts to their payrolls. They plan to trim 14,195 job cuts in November,
bringing the year-to-date tally to 86,376, which ranks second among all
industries, the Challenger report noted. Transportation,
pharmaceutical, industrial goods and telecommunications also experienced a
substantial amount of planned of layoffs in November. |
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