Bloody Monday: 68,000 Job Losses Announced Today With More to Come

That sucks. Last week, two of my office neighbors were laid off. For one of them, I thought it was a really poor decision. He's a great engineer, but over 60, and makes a ton of money. They didn't tell him this, but I'm pretty sure he was cut so the company can get the bid down on the next phase of the project he was working on.

 

I think 10% plus here we come. Will take a while for this to hit the bottom.

 

I don't understand this line of thought. the consumer has driven our economy, particularly through consumer credit. I don't believe these creditors are going to go back to giving out much credit to shaky consumers.

they definitely won't do it in the housing market. this isn't the tech bubble, or the economy after 9-11, business is credit is tighter, consumer credit is tighter. not because banks won't lend to each other (another problem apparently that hasn't been fixed by the bailout), because banks and companies that provide credit are going to be A LOT more careful.

 

That is some brutal news. The one that has me really worried is Caterpillar, since I own their stock and since that is a very bad sign for construction. Just a year ago Caterpillar couldn't keep up with global demand for their equipment..

 

the thing with caterpillar is theyre dropping american jobs but they're just moving those overseas, they have tons of cheap laborers overseas. Its tough to compete when an american must have minimum wage and benefits and someone elsewhere doesnt. I hope we get through this soon but everyday its seeming like we americans are gonna have to drop our standard of living to compete on a global scale when for years we thought we could bring other countries to our level.

 

I completely agree with you. It's a pipe dream to think the recovery will start in the 3rd quarter this year with a steep hiring spree.

 

Didn't they just break ground on a manufacturing plant in Seguin? Anyone know the status of that?

 

I knew a guy who graduated from college last year, was offered a job with Caterpillar in March to work at a brand-new manufacturing plant, and they cancelled building the plant and withdrew his offer in June, just before he was to start.

Personally, I'm a little worried about both Caterpillar and John Deere. They've made a lot of money for a long time by charging gold-plated prices for the highest-quality equipment. With the increasing quality of Korean equipment, I wonder if the economics that made that a good choice are going to change. Would you buy a Caterpillar or Deere tractor/dozer/backhoe if you could get a Hyundai for 25% less that was 90% as good? It would give me pause.

 

I think the view is we will plunge so deep next couple of quarters, then things might stabilize a bit. That could be considered the start of recovery, but we will NEVER go back to the level of credit market we had before.

 

Why be worried? Be happy. I'm confused. Milton Friedman. Let the Americans engineers wages sink to the level of those in India. It is just the labor market clearing. If your buddy and the guys working at the plant were willing to work for much less they could have jobs. I thought you wanted a libertarian world of which this is a symptom.

 

Funny strawman. If we were losing heavy equipment manufacturing jobs to India, your strawman might have just a grain of truth. South Korea pays workers almost as much as the US, though. And oddly enough, they owe a lot of their own growth to the application of many of Friedman's ideas to their own economy.

 

A lot of job loss is because Cat will no longer be producing engines for road trucks. They are not profitable enough with all the restrictions for emissions control. They announced this a couple years ago so the layoffs are not as much about the recession as they want people to think. They may be hoping for a government hand out.

 

Obama brings record job losses to America.
Bigtexx was right about Obama's taxes killing the economy.

 

South Korea is one of the most protectionist "market economies" out there. I doubt either Friedman or any other U of Chicago free market supporting alums would step anywhere near what is in practise in that country.

 

I thought South Korea was known for high taxes on imports.

 

I don't think Chaebols are very Friedman-esque.

 

My wife's company announced record earnings in the tune of over 4 billion dollars on Monday and had layoffs on Tuesday in which she was effected. Some companies are just using it as an excuse to move stuff to other countries.

 

Exactly, it's only been a week and look what he's done.