Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Career Trends used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to create their top ten list of U.S. industries destroying U.S. jobs: Nondurable Goods makers, Durable Goods makers, Transportation-warehousing-utilities, Mining-Logging, Real Estate (what housing market recovery?), Retail, Hotel-Food Service, Business (legal, medical, etc) Service, Construction, and the number one job killing industry is Arts-entertainment-recreation.

Alabama: In Shelby County, Jesse Creek Mines eliminating 170 jobs due to the crashing coal market!

California:  American Medical Response shutting down their Modesto billing center in February, laying off the final 47 remaining employees, in total 330 jobs were eliminated!  Cupertino based Apple is drastically cutting production of its new iPhones by 30%!  This is causing the factory in China to conduct mass layoffs, and forced the city of Zhengzhou to pump $12.6-million USD into the factory to minimize the impact.  Apple stocks lost 24% of their value from last year!   It turns out that sales of the new Apple iPhones are not as great as what the mainstream news media was reporting!

Connecticut: In New Canaan, after six years popular Chicken Joe’s restaurant shutdown by astronomical rent.

Delaware: In Dover, 94 years old (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) jewelry store Forney’s shutdown without warning,  local news reports say the owners refuse to explain why.  More job killing by DuPont, this time 2-hundred highly educated people (many with doctorates) at the Central Research and Development division at the Experimental Station in Wilmington now unemployed: “As part of this restructuring, we are redesigning the existing Central Research & Development operating model to assess and seed new, transformational science-based ventures as the next step in the evolution of corporately funded R&D for DuPont.” 

  Georgia:  In Rome, Ohio based clothing store Express shutting down their Mount Berry Mall store by the end of the month, no reason given.

Florida:   After two years The Juice Spot in the Brickell area of Miami shutting down.  There are signs the owners, the LeBron James family, is hurting for cash as the basketball star sold his Miami mansion in August for $13.4-million USD.

Illinois:  State tax administrators are holding back on tax refunds until at least March claiming it’s their way of preventing tax fraud, however, it’s more likely because Illinois is financially broke!   God refuses to stop the shutdown of three of ‘his’ Christian schools; Saint Agatha Catholic Academy, Saint Peter elementary and Seton Academy.  It’s blamed on The Rapture, I mean what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome.

Kansas: New York based clothier Ann Taylor shutting down their Wichita store by the end of the month, publicly/officially refusing to say why.   State administrators shutting down the Cheney Lake Marina by February.  The state is forcing the operators of 17 years out and placing the marina store up for contract bidding.  The operators say they were not given a reason but were told they could bid on the new contract, but bidding won’t start until they’ve vacated the property.

Maryland: The Baltimore School Board approved the shutdown of four schools; Westside Elementary School, Maritime Industries Academy High School, Baltimore Community High School and the Maryland Academy of Technology & Health Sciences.  The school board is considering shutting down a fifth school as well.  The shutdowns are blamed on poor academic performance and what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome.  Baltimore County Public Schools shutdown Deep Creek junior high school due to lack of heating.

New Jersey:  Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing (JONAH), a group forcing homosexuals into heterosexual lifestyles, shutdown by lawsuits brought by former clients who said the ‘conversion’ therapy didn’t work!

New York:   NYC based Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings revealed they laid off employees but refused to say how many.  The convicted fraudster Martha Stewart reportedly gave the employees the bad news herself.  The layoffs are connected to the fact that Martha Stewart no longer owns her namesake, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is now owned by Sequential Brands Group.

North Carolina:  In Raleigh, after less than ten years restaurant The Borough shutting down, the owner saying she has to sell it.  

Ohio: In Columbus, after only one year the Bosco Lanes bowling alley suddenly shutdown.   The operators blame a surprise eviction notice by the greedy landlord, describing it as “…some extremely shady circumstances….threats have been made…”    The Ohio Health Nelsonville Medical and Emergency Services facility shutdown their emergency room operations earlier than expected.  Administrators blame ObamaCare for forcing 80% of customers to go to urgent care operations instead.

Oklahoma:  After 105 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) iconic elitist Miss Jackson’s upscale retail store in Tulsa shutdown, word is it was no longer “sustainable” in the new economic reality.   God refuses to stop ‘his’ bankrupt busted Teen Mania Christian recruitment op from shutting down due to massive debt and legal problems.

Pennsylvania:  Philadelphia eliminating at least three jobs as part of the magazine’s restructuring.  In State College, Callao Cafe shutting down due to the owner’s health problems.

Texas:  Retailer Macy’s shutting down their Ridgmar Mall department store.   Local news sources reporting that the city of Houston lost more than 60-thousand oil jobs since April 2014, and is expected to lose another 30-thousand oil jobs in 2016!  And what housing market recovery? Despite crashing employment the cost of housing in Houston is still so high that there is an exodus of young people from the city: “Too many young people are living outside Houston because they can’t find housing in this city.”-Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston

Virginia: Capco Machinery Systems suddenly laid off 40 employees on New Year’s Eve and shutdown, no warning or explanation.  The shutdown was revealed by former employees who went to local news media, Capco administrators refused to comment.  Local news reports say the company announced expansion plans in 2013, even began excavating ground for a new building, but suddenly stopped.  County administrators even offer tax breaks to restart the expansion, but nothing happened.   In Roanoke, WDBJ television station was sold-off.  WDBJ is the TV station that saw two reporters killed, by a former employee, live on TV.  The once Indiana owned WDBJ is now owned by a company out of Georgia.  As a former local TV news producer I can tell you that TV station takeovers always involve people losing their jobs.

Washington:  In Bellingham, God refuses to stop ‘his’ bible software company Faithlife Corporation from laying off 60 Christians, due to declining demand for their Logo software.

Washington DC:  A new law secretly passed last year gives the federal tax collector (Internal Revenue Service, IRS) and the Department of State the power to prevent you from leaving the country if you owe $50-thousand USD or more in taxes.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

04 – 05 January 2016: “It’s part of our new business model…” Idaho hit with skyrocketing poor U.S. migrants! 

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”

Incomplete list of job loss announcements and shutdowns.

Colorado: In Lafayette, the Crossroad’s Tavern shutdown by the greedy landlord.  The landlord is the Flatirons Community Church.

Georgia:  In Valdosta, Classic Art & Frame shutdown after 37 years.

Illinois:  Missouri based ammo maker Olin Corporation eliminating 35 Winchester related jobs in East Alton, by February.  They blame crashing sales of ammo to civilians in 2015.  In Elgin, Books at Sunset shutdown after 16 years.

Massachusetts: In Spencer, after 174 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ First United Methodist Church.  The local reverend blames it on The Rapture, I mean crashing membership.

Missouri: In Kansas City, greedy landlord shutdown the ten years old recordBar nightclub.

Nevada:  Whole food store Reno Provisions suddenly shutdown.  Reports say the store struggled with problems like lack of revenues, e-coli outbreaks and now a new lawsuit.

New Jersey:  In Bordertown, after 35 years jeweler Golden Pleasures shutting down in February.  The owner, Don Farmer, said he realized that “Retail is a jail.”  New York based clothier Eileen Fisher shutting down their ten years old Westfield store by the end of the month.  It’s the last Eileen Fisher store in New Jersey.  After 37 years the Cherry Hill Coastline Bar and Grill now bankrupt busted and shutdown.

A New Mexico cow killed by Winter Storm Goliath

New Mexico:  Winter Storm Goliath has killed thousands of dairy cows in the Clovis area.  At one point dairy production was down to just 10% of capacity.

Grand Teton Mall store, Idaho Falls, Idaho

New York: NYC based iconic bookseller Barnes & Noble shutting down the last of its Queens bookstores in 2016.  It’s part of their surprise announcement to increase the number of bookstore shutdowns across the United States, thousands of jobs lost!  Over the past decade Barnes & Noble has averaged about 15 store shutdowns per year, they didn’t say how many stores they will shutdown in 2016, but it’s going to be more than 15.  Some analysts suspect it’ll be in the hundreds as leases on 442 stores expire this year, and Barnes & Noble administrators indicated there is no economic reason to renew them!   Honest Weight, one of the last food co-op grocery stores in The Empire State, is warning that state employment regulations will force them to shutdown.  

Tennessee: Shelbyville Record Shop ended its brick-n-motar retail ops but will continue repairing audio and video equipment.

Texas:  Texas Association of Dairymen upped the number of dairy cows killed by Winter Storm Goliath to 5% (one report says at least 40-thousand killed!).  The estimate counts only mature cows.  On top of that, the snow levels are making it almost impossible to bring in all the cows for milking, meaning many cows will stop producing milk.  The Dairymen warn they will probably find even more dead cows as they dig out from Goliath.  Get ready for skyrocketing dairy prices in Texas.  Now if you think beef prices are high enough, add this to the mix; one beef rancher says he lost 350 beef cows to Goliath, and he says there are at least 30 other ranchers in the area with similar losses!  In Dallas, after 40 years the original Black-eyed Pea restaurant was suddenly shutdown due to the company going bankrupt.  At least 15 Black-eyed Pea restaurants have been shutdown in Texas.  The bankruptcy will affect restaurants in the state of Colorado as well.

Vermont: After 142 years (surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions) God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Quechee Community Church.  Apparently God needs money because the church is being sold-off.

Virginia: In Alexandria, after 53 years Why Not? children’s boutique shutting down by the end of the month.

Washington DC:  Reports say Barack Obama is about to issue an executive order allowing foreign students to stay in the United States, after they graduate from a U.S. college/university, and take your job!

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

01 January 2016: “The city basically doesn’t want us here anymore. We got priced out.” 

Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed

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.”