Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.
Alabama: In Huntsville, Haysland Square Shopping Center losing two stores in one blow; Goody’s and Burkes Outlet, between now and the end of April.
California: Premium Transportation-Total Transportation Services claiming chapter 11 bankruptcy after losing lawsuit brought by its contracted drivers, and blaming “downward pricing pressure from some of its major clients”. The trucking company is also facing other lawsuits and claims to have lost $4-million USD fighting recent court actions (this is a lesson in why you should treat your employees and clients with respect), they also spent a lot of money on hydrogen powered trucks. After 18 years the Lafayette Art Gallery shutting down due to sales so low they can’t pay their rent. Office Depot shutting down their Pleasant Hill store in April, directly blaming “The overlapping retail footprint created by the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax in 2013…” In El Segundo, after ten years restaurant Farm Stand shutting down next week. The owners hope to open a new restaurant with new partners somewhere in Los Angeles, sometime next year.
Connecticut: Expect mass hospital layoffs as gov’na Malloy is refusing to issue $140-million USD in payments to state hospitals! To show you how much The Constitution State is a Failed State, republican ‘lawmakers’ claim they’re willing to cut their own pay by 10% in order to get a budget passed! In Derby, a 15 years old Walmart is shutting down by the end of July, 150 jobs lost!
Idaho: In Boise, after only four months the brand new Boise Co-op grocery store located at The Village at Meridian laid off 29 employees, due to lack of sales! Boise Co-op opened the store in November 2015, expecting big sales because Maureen Valko, Boise Co-op marketing manager, assumed there was a demand for their products saying “There’s a demand for a good, natural food store on this side of town….” It should be noted that in 2015 Boise Co-op was hit with numerous health code violations by city inspectors, in connection to a June 2015 salmonella outbreak at an older store. So much for ‘natural foods’. Also in Boise, it was revealed that Idaho Heritage Inn was sold-off last month, the former owner blames a 20% crash in bookings on Airbnb.com. However, it should be noted that the bed-n-breakfast owner accepted a healthy offer from Saint Luke’s Medical Center for the land. 
And just how addicted to Mexican money is Idaho? Recently Mexico’s Minister of Trade Armando Orellana died. Idaho’s government and agriculture industry are officially mourning Orellana as he’s credited for making Idaho a major ag partner for Mexico, generating $191-million USD in sales for Idaho’s minority (mainly corporate owned now) farmers-ranchers, just in 2015: “Idaho agriculture lost a great friend. He touched many lives over the years and the tragic loss of Armando will be felt throughout Idaho.”-Celia Gould, Idaho Department of Agriculture (Idaho even has its own website promoting itself in Mexico)
Kansas: Parsons based oil industry Tank Connection Affiliate Group revealed it conducted two rounds of layoffs, but still refuses to say how many people lost their jobs. We will never know, because people who get severance when they’re laid off are not counted in the government’s ‘official’ unemployment reports.
Kentucky: Yet more of what I call Ripple Effect Layoffs (REL) as Florida based rail transporter CSX eliminating more jobs, this time an additional 101 Russell facility workers being let go. CSX has been eliminating jobs since 2015, blaming the oil industry.
Maine: Penobscot Valley Hospital eliminating 10 jobs due to crashing revenues. Administrators say the hospital has been losing money since 2012 due to declining local population.
Massachusetts: In Needham, after 18 years Cowlicks Deli suddenly shutdown last Thursday. It’s due to the new landlord refusing to renew the lease. The new landlord is convenience store chain 7-Eleven.
Michigan: In Lansing, violence being blamed for the shutdown of Fahrenheit Ultra Lounge. The owner is voluntarily shutting it down after police responded to 60 calls of violence in 2015. Is there something in the water? (there is a connection between lead poisoning and violent behavior) And speaking of health, Blue Cross Blue Shield eliminated 22 IT jobs, as part of their bigger plan to eliminate $300-million USD in Michigan jobs by 2018, no thanks to ObamaCare! Farmington Public Schools approved the shutdown/repurposing of three schools. The school district has lost 12% of its student population since 2000, causing an $11-million USD reduction in taxpayer funding.
New Jersey: Proof of no recovery four years after Hurricane Sandy, in fact many coastal communities are officially Failed States as taxes were jacked up and nothing was done to return things to ‘normal’. The biggest proof is that tax revenues are down despite tax rates being jacked up.
Pennsylvania: Iconic Meadville based hand-tool maker Channellock laid off 15 managers, “In order to remain competitive….” J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital eliminated 11 jobs, and is being forced by ObamaCare to eliminate inpatient care and focus on outpatient services. Brockie Internal Medicine, Pine Grove Adult Medicine and Saint Charles Internal Medicine all shutting down! ObamaCare forcing them to be consolidated into one operation called WellSpan Internal Medicine, with a lot fewer employees.
Tennessee: God powerless to stop ‘his’ Texas owned Saint Francis Hospital from laying off 33 people. Administrators said ObamaCare was forcing them to do business “more efficiently.”
Texas: Albertsons-Safeway shutting down their Plano Albertsons on Custer Road. Local news reports say Albertsons-Safeway is not responding to inquiries, but unnamed employees say the grocery store will shutdown by the end of April. In Longview, blaming the oil industry Trinity Tank Car announced that 6-hundred local employees will become unemployed with “no expectation of recall”!
Washington: Xerox notified 325 call center employees they are about to lose their jobs! The call center in Redmond will shutdown in May.
Washington DC: President Barack Obama reneged on yet another ‘promise’ refusing to lease oil drilling rights in the Artic and off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Don’t go praising (or condemning) environmental wackos, point the finger at the U.S. Department of Defense. The DoD objects to the oil drilling locations because they would interfere with “live training events” for the military. (low oil prices might also have something to do with it) Taxpayer funded United Medical Center eliminating 112 jobs as a result of demands by city administrators to reduce costs by $10-million!
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
15 March 2016: “I never thought it would end!”
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed!
Employees of religious non-profits might not qualify for unemployment assistance: “If the non-profit organization is a church, you may or may not be entitled to unemployment. It all depends upon state regulations for church employers. In many cases, churches are allowed to set their own rules regarding unemployment benefits, meaning the church can choose whether to offer benefits to former employees.”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”