Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

The Navajo Nation Council spending an additional $2-million USD to hire teenagers for the Summer.  It’s an effort to combat crashing employment of teenagers across the U.S.

California: Amazingly, and despite my continued reporting of massive layoffs across the Golden State, including the Bay Area, the UCLA Anderson Forecast claims that employment in the Bay Area is at full capacity!   But wait, the term Full Employment is misleading, it does not mean everybody literally has a job, it means that everybody who wants a job and is willing to take whatever slave wage pay level is offered can potentially become employed.

Illinois: Chicago based job analyst Challenger, Gray & Christmas is blaming crashing teenager employment on the bad economy: “The general trend in summer employment among teens has been downward and that trend has been going on since the late 1970s. …..Restaurants and retail outlets are still hiring teens, but not as many as in the past…… …summer camps, neighborhood pools, amusement parks…the number of these jobs is not really growing.”

Iowa: The city of Des Moines threatening to shutdown Hagar’s Manhattan Deli and the Greenwood Lounge if owner Lee Family Properties fails to make necessary upgrades. The battle between the property owner and the city is years in the making: “He is the worst property owner I have encountered in my entire political career. We can’t get him to do anything, so this is our last resort.”-Christine Hensley, authoritarian city council member

Michigan: What automotive industry recovery? Detroit based General Motors (GM) is creating 7-hundred new jobs, not in the United States but across the northern border in Toronto, Canada!

New York:  NYC based Too Big to Jail Goldman Sachs reports that the Affordable Care Act is forcing people who normally didn’t have to work to go back to work just to afford their new ObamaCare mandated insurance!  It’s called Involuntary Part Time Employment, and the number of people working because they have to (due to ObamaCare) and not because they want to has remained high ever since ObamaCare went into effect. Now realize that for every person forced to go to work means another person who really wants to work, can’t.   The city of New York is spending $34-million USD creating 60-thousand busy work jobs for their Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) in an effort to combat crashing employment of teenagers.   The city of Birmingham is using a measly $10-thousand USD in federal taxpayer grant money to combat crashing employment of teenagers considered ‘at risk’. The program is called Citizen U.

Ohio: The Mahoning County Children Services Board laying off 22 employees and shutting down the Glenwood group home due to lack of teenaged residents.

Oregon:  Raising wages during good economic times can actually boost revenues, but during bad times it could kill the economy.  The state Office of Economic Analysis is warning that the soon to be increased state minimum wage (to $15 per hour) will end up killing 40-thousand jobs!  Oregon has an official population of about 4-million, it’s a geographically large state with a population that’s half that of the evil Big Apple city of New York!     Local news reports said that Oregon’s democrat controlled government passed the wage increase before the Office of Economic Analysis published their report: “While the impact is relatively small when compared to the size of the Oregon economy, it does result in approximately 40,000 fewer jobs in 2025 than would have been the case absent the legislation. Our office is not predicting outright job losses, however we are expecting somewhat slower growth. Low-wage workers receiving raises in the near term boost incomes. Over time, however, employers will adjust by increasing worker productivity, possibly via capital for labor substitutions.”–Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast, June 2016

Pennsylvania: After 29 years Hanover Home & Garden shutting down in July, the owners saying “it’s time to retire”.  Bethlehem based National Association of Colleges and Employers revealed that only 54% of  recent college grads found full time jobs six months after graduating!

Texas: In northern Texas there appears to be an exodus of teenagers as the number of kids on their Summer break, and looking for a job, has been halved from their peak in the 1970-80s, Texas job analysts blame it on a rise in low paying back breaking jobs usually reserved for migrants: ” Most jobs involve more grunt work, more low level work and Generation Z doesn’t find those jobs appealing…. …There is no such thing as a kid job anymore because companies are reliant on every level of labor they have.”-Ron Newton

However, down south in Houston TV station CW39 conducted an unscientific survey and found that many U.S. teenagers are looking for a job, but can’t find any jobs: “I’m looking for a job right now which is kind of hard.  This is like the fourth place I’ve gone, but most places are sort of slow in the summer so it’s a lot harder to find a job.”-Sanitago Navarrete

“I couldn’t find a job or an internship and I thought I could be useful in some other way. I’m volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary.”-Alexis Acevedo

“What the numbers show for Houston is that, they’re not interested in kicking back this summer. We’ve had over 4,000 applications for 1,500 opportunities.“-Vanessa Ramirez, SER Jobs for Progress

Washington DC: More proof the economy has not recovered; the Pew Research Center reports that Summer jobs for teenagers on break from school are getting harder to find, the main reason is due to crashing sales for the employers who usually hire teens for the Summer.  In 1978 summertime teen employment hit its high at 58%, but ever since 2010 it’s hovered around 30%.  The Brookings Institution reports “Employment rates fell most dramatically among teens, and large disparities between whites and blacks persist, particularly among teens and young adults.”

And for more proof ObamaCare is killing the economy, even the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the Affordable Care Act is the main driver behind skyrocketing costs of operations for employers.  Over the past 12 months healthcare benefit costs rose 3.3%, in the previous 12 months they rose 2.5%.  Wage costs are also blamed, not because employees are actually being paid more but because their productivity is going down (of course, who wants to continue busting their ass for some employer who won’t give them a decent raise or who could kill their jobs without warning?).

Wisconsin: Restaurant Pastiche shutting down their Bay View-Milwaukee location in August.  The owners are focusing on their other restaurants.

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

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.”

Incomplete list of U.S. job loss announcements and shutdowns.

California:  Vegetable grower Hiji Brothers shutting down, 260 people in Oxnard jobless by August! No official reason was given for the shutdown.  Benz Sanitation-Propane issued a layoff WARN, 132 people in Tehachapi jobless by August!  Switzerland based Nestlé issued a layoff WARN, 72 people in Modesto jobless by the end of July (supposedly temporarily).  Renewable energy company SunEdison continues killing jobs, this time 121 people in three locations were laid off at the end of May!   In Los Angeles, restaurant Yamashiro shutting down tomorrow, 82 jobs lost.  Also in LA, Bloomingdale’s shutting down their 59th & Lex Cafe, 17 jobs lost (supposedly temporarily).  In Santa Monica, Buca Restaurant 2 issued a shutdown WARN, 39 jobs lost by August.  Interesting, Abbot Vascular officially (and finally) revealed it laid off 160 people in Redwood City, back in December 2015!   In San Diego, Scripps Health revealed it laid off 122 people in May!  National Retail Transportation issued a shutdown WARN for its Fontana location, 125 jobs gone by the end of July!  In San Francisco, British empire United Kingdom based BAE revealed it laid off 54 people in May.   Newspaper The Fresno Bee eliminating 85 jobs by the end of July. Food packager Pactiv shutting down their Vernon operations, 106 jobs gone by July!  What irony, Simply Hired issued a shutdown WARN, 94 people in Sunnyvale jobless by the end of July. More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; internet slots website Playtika eliminating 111 Santa Monica jobs by August!

Connecticut: After 16 years Salem Feed & Grain shutting down due to declining sales and the owner focusing on other businesses.

Florida: After 35 years Turner Tree and Landscape chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to $7-million USD of debts.

Illinois: Switzerland based Zurich Insurance Group warned of massive layoffs, including at its 1-hundred-years-plus old Chicago office, but refused to give numbers.  Also in Chicago, after 34 years Itto Sushi shutting down by the end of the month.  Pleasant house Bakery shutdown, supposedly it’s being replaced with a pub.   Oak+Char restaurant shutdown due to disputes between the owners.  The state Attorney General is suing Jimmy John’s sandwich shops for forcing employees to sign illegal ‘noncompete’ contracts!

Iowa: Canadian Pacific Railroad shutting down their Nahant maintenance shop, 21 jobs lost.

Kansas: After surviving The Great Depression and numerous recessions Varney’s Book Store shutting down all locations after an 80% drop in sales, due to losing contracts with K-State Student Union bookstore and K-State athletics.

Kentucky: In Lexington, two years after a grand re-opening Shorty’s Market shutting down.  The 2013 shutdown and this new shutdown both blamed on lack of sales.

Massachusetts: Williams-Sonoma shutting down their Holyoke Mall cooking supply store in July.

Minnesota: In Minneapolis, after 68 years Rush’s Bridal shutting down, the family owns the building and can make more money renting it to somebody else.

New York: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; NYC based internet publisher Gawker Media now chapter 11 bankrupt busted after losing a $140-million USD lawsuit brought against them by Hulk Hogan. In Ithaca, Standard Art Supply & Souvenir shutdown, no reason given but local news media discovered the property owner was asking the city for permission for new construction. In Rotterdam, Things Remembered shutting down due to not being able to renew the lease.

Oklahoma: Newspaper The Oklahoman shutting down its packaging and printing ops in Oklahoma City, 130 jobs gone by September!  The Oklahoman was Oklahoma’s largest newspaper but will now contract out work to rival Tulsa World.

Texas: More proof you brick-n-mortar store owners can’t directly blame the internet/high-tech competition for your demise; in Austin, former drivers for California based internet companies Uber and Lyft filed multiple lawsuits over their sudden dismissal in May.  The sudden halt to  Uber and Lyft operations is the result of Austin residents approving a new law requiring Uber and Lyft to conduct background checks on ‘independent’ drivers.  Apparently Uber and Lyft didn’t want to comply, so they laid off hundreds (possibly thousands) of people without warning. (Uber has already agreed to settle a lawsuit by 350-thousand drivers in California and Massachusetts who say Uber never reimbursed them for fuel expenses! Lyft is offering to pay California drivers $27-million USD to settle their legal action!)

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification.

I found a 2010 AFL-CIO analysis (titled The Public Availability of WARN Notices: Lack of Accessibility and Disclosure…) which proves what I’ve been suspecting in my search of state WARN notices; most states are not complying with federal WARN regulations and are not publicizing or tracking mass layoffs.

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.”