Meat packing company, Cargill, announced 2,000 layoffs for operations in Texas!!!  Two packing plants will be closed due to a lack of regional cattle for beef, and company officials blame that on the ongoing drought.  Get ready for beef prices to go up even more!

Gerber baby food maker moves production from Michigan to Arkansas. 44 people in Michigan out-o-work.

General Motors to close down its Weld Tool Center in Michigan. 343 GM employees out-o-work! The closure will also affect dozens of independent operations that rely on orders from GM.  Other local businesses said as much as 90% of their sales went to GM Weld Tool Center employees.

Standard Insurance company to cut at least 100 jobs across the United States.  Basically the company is expecting to lose money this year, and is trying to stay ahead of the curve.

The Pewter Rose restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina, shut down just short of its 25th anniversary.  Sales were down, and water damage to the building was the final straw.

One month ago Hatteras Yachts announced layoffs for 150 employees at their North Carolina operation.  Now, local media reports say another 40 people were let go. It’s part of the plans of parent company Brunswick to sell off their Hatteras and CABO Yachts brands.

Also in North Carolina, mortgage insurance company United Guaranty laid off an undisclosed number of people.  Company officials say they’re trying to anticipate near term “business needs”, meaning they think things are going to get worse!

In South Carolina, the Hippodrome Theater is closing down.  The owner says ticket sales are good, but he wants to focus on his law business.

Boise, Idaho, lost another retailer. California based See Jane Run women’s sports wear closed their only store outside of the Golden State.

The Washington Township Health Care District says it has no choice but to layoff 200 employees at Fremont hospital in California! They blame reduced reimbursement rates from state and federal health programs and private insurance.

Directory Distributing Associates shut down its Merced, California, operation and laid off 42 people.

Avon closing down its Pasadena, California, distribution center. 170 jobs lost! The center was opened in 1946. Avon will also close a distribution center in Atlanta, Georgia.  250 jobs lost there! Operations will move to Ohio.  Avon officials say they need to reduce costs by $400 million per year!

Little Dipper restaurant in Dalton, Georgia, closed down. It was famous for chocolate cobbler. The family that owned it would not give details about why they closed the popular restaurant, but said it was time to move one, and that another restaurant was moving in.

In Alaska, the Anchorage school board revealed they are short $25 million USD!  They will have to layoff school employees, although they have yet to pick who becomes unemployed.

In Louisiana, the Jefferson Parish School Board will layoff 20 employees at two alternative schools. They blame lower enrollment due to fewer troubled students (I guess that’s a good thing).

Despite making profits, Massachusetts based custodial bank State Street will layoff 630 employees around the world, 260 just in the Bay State!

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Massachusetts to shut down its detox unit. About 24 staff affected. Hospital officials say they’re changing the way they handle certain types of addictions, which will render the detox unit unnecessary.

In Arkansas, the architecture and engineering company, Benchmark Group, laid off at least 23 people.   Company officials blamed the bad economy.

More reason to hate Verizon.  The New York based telecommunications company will layoff 201 people around the country!  Company officials say there is no need for those employees as a result of technical upgrades.  However, a union rep said that was BS: “These layoffs are not needed. We have enough work to cover every one of them.”-Ed Cocliff, Local 827 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Broadway Brew Pub & Grill in Troy, New York, closing down.  Apparently pub owners were threatened by city officials, after several incidents of violence in the pub.

The Vermont Law School has laid off two people, and bought out the contracts of ten others. School officials blame declining enrollment.

Virginia based Computer Sciences Corporations confirmed they will layoff an undisclosed amount of employees.  They say they need to become more efficient. I worked for CSC in the early 1980s, no comment other than even in the 1980s they were highly inefficient, but that’s par for the course for companies dependent upon government contracts.

Pennsylvania based TE Connectivity laying off 137 workers across its medical products division! The company blamed it on a $0.5 billion drop in sales.  Want some cheese with that whine?  They only had $13.3 billion in sales during fiscal 2012!

Investment company Legg Mason to layoff an undisclosed amount of employees, due to the merger of two of its divisions.  (no pity for investment companies)

Illinois based metal and plastics distributor, A.M. Castle, will layoff 180 people!  It’s all about increasing their profits even more!

In Skokie, Illinois, a Best Buy is shutting down. 58 employees out-o-work.

Busey Bank will close four branches in Illinois. Bank officials say it’s part of their plan to transition to mobile and electronic banking.

Laurel Hill Healthcare closing its nursing home in Connecticut. It’s part of the growing nursing home closings due to parent company Spectrum Healthcare’s bankruptcy.

A Catholic school in New Albany, Indiana, shutting down.  Saint Mary’s Academy will close for good in May, due to more than $1 million of debt!

Massachusetts based Hologic, maker of medical diagnostic tools, to close its Indiana factory. 140 people out-o-work!