House Republican Conference - Obamacare Job Losses

Yesterday, the House Republican Conference had fun spoofing Arrested Development to point out the absurdity that is ObamaCare.  But ObamaCare is no joke.  It is destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans.

Today, we are releasing another video that rolls the detrimental effect ObamaCare has had on jobs.  Please consider watching and sharing this new video – shared first with bloggers.

“Headlines”  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7tTWasXw_g

Obamacare Layoffs, Hiring Freezes Begin

by Wynton Hall 5 Jan 2013
http://tinyurl.com/bjswfph

Obamacare opponents warned that forcing companies employing 50 or more full-time workers to buy healthcare would prompt employers to slash jobs and worker hours.  And that’s exactly what’s happening, says one of President Barack Obama’s favorite economists, Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics.

“It will have a negative impact on job creation” this year, says Mr. Zandi.   

The Obamacare employer mandate doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2014, but the government requires businesses to track worker schedules for three to 12 months in advance.  That means many employers plan to get a jump start on avoiding Obamacare’s $2,000 per-worker fine by firing workers now, reducing employee hours, or replacing full-time employees with part-time workers.

A survey by the International Franchise Association finds that 31% of franchisees say they plan to cut staff to duck under Obamacare’s 50-employer mandate.  And another study by Mercer consulting firm found that half of businesses who don’t presently offer health insurance plan to reduce employee hours to avert triggering Obamacare’s penalties.

As Breitbart News has reported, Pennsylvania Community College of Allegheny County has already slashed the hours of 400 adjunct instructors, support staff, and part-time teachers to sidestep the Obamacare fines.  Doing so will save the already cash-strapped college an estimated $6 million.  

Other Obamacare provisions, like the medical devise excise tax, have forced Stryker medical supply to cut 1,170 positions, despite the fact that the founder of the company’s grandson was among Mr. Obama’s biggest campaign donors.  Other medical device makers like Boston Scientific, Dana Holding Corp., Welch Allyn, Medtronic, Kinetic Concepts, and Smith & Nephew have similarly forecast the needs to cut hundreds of jobs each as the result of Obamcare.

The day after Mr. Obama’s reelection, a Las Vegas employer fired 22 of his 114 employees citing Obamacare regulations as the culprit.

Christine Ippolito of Compass Workforce Solutions says companies just under the 50 employee threshold now plan to hold off on hiring to avoid triggering the $2,000-per worker penalty.

Ernie Canadeo, the president of EGC Group advertising agency, agrees.  Mr. Canadeo says he had planned to hire 10 workers this year, but may wait so as not to cross the 50-worker mark.

The looming Obamacare layoffs and hiring freezes come as a Labor Department report announced today that the unemployment rate remains at 7.8% (revised up from the originally reported 7.7%).  Presently, 22.6 million Americans are either unemployed, underemployed, or marginally attached to the work force. 

http://tinyurl.com/bjswfph

'Bullish' November Data Mask An Ugly Truth About Jobs

Posted 12/07/2012 06:54 PM ET

Economy: A rip-roarer for job creation and a major drop in the unemployment rate. At least, that's how the mainstream media sum up November's job numbers. But scratch the data and a different story surfaces.

A lot of pundits thought the November jobs data were pretty good, with 146,000 new jobs and a drop in unemployment to 7.7%. But look closer, and you see recession mode.

With nonfarm payrolls swelling by 146,000 and the jobless rate easing from 7.9% to 7.7%, November looked pretty good to many pundits. But the underlying trends aren't so favorable, and the future, with a slowing economy about to drive off a fiscal cliff, isn't bright at all.

Start with payroll jobs. The 146,000 wasn't awful, but to make a serious dent in joblessness, we need to add at least 200,000 a month for a prolonged period. In this poisoned atmosphere for business, that won't happen.

Since 2011, businesses have added about 151,000 jobs a month. But since June that's slowed to just 139,000. We're clearly going the wrong way.

And by the way, remember those big payroll gains in September and October, right before the election? Forget it. The Labor Department has revised down its job estimates for those two months by 49,000.

OK, but we still have private-sector job growth, right? Not really. In the last six months, 621,000 of the 847,000 new jobs created have been in government, not the private sector, according to CNSNews.com. That's 73% of all jobs — not a healthy labor market.

As for that big "drop" in the unemployment rate, all of it was due to the fact that 540,000 Americans are no longer looking for work. They either dropped out, took early disability or retired. Since the start of 2009, 9.7 million Americans have fallen into this category.

All told, more than 24 million Americans who want jobs don't have them, driving the labor force participation rate to 63.6%, just above August's 31-year low of 63.5%. This is the worst labor market in a recovery ever.

And it may get worse. The quarterly Wells Fargo/Gallup small-business survey found that 21% plan to cut jobs over the next six months — a surge from 10% last June and a record high.

IBD's own research shows that small businesses account for nearly 80% of all new job creation in America. A small-business slump means no jobs. It's that simple.

Why is the labor market refusing to recover as it has in the past, with millions of new jobs each year amid rapid economic growth? In a word, Obamanomics.

Thanks to ObamaCare, "stimulus" spending of $860 billion, threats of higher tax rates on small business owners and entrepreneurs, the economy's going nowhere. We may soon enter a new small-business recession that can be blamed on no one but Barack Obama.

http://tinyurl.com/bg2oydq

How Many Businesses Have Announced Closings or Layoffs Since Obama Won A Second Term?

http://tinyurl.com/ahuzqqe

Do elections have consequences? If you have been paying attention to the financial markets, you might think so. Wall Street has had two horrible days since President Obama won a second term.

However, stock prices are not the only thing taking a hit. It appears that the job market is also suffering. In the last 48 hours, the following major corporations have announced layoffs in America (links take you to news stories about the layoffs – with details from the companies):

• Energizer -

The St. Louis-based company said Thursday that it expects to shed about 1,500 employees. When finished, the restructuring should lead to $200 million in pretax yearly savings, Energizer said. It aims to have most of its restructuring steps finished by the end of September 2014.

• Exide Technologies -

Exide Technologies announced Thursday that it will be idling its lead-recycling operations in Laureldale and laying off 150 workers, effective no later than March 31.

• Westinghouse -

Westinghouse Anniston, the contractor responsible for shutting down Anniston’s chemical weapons incinerator, has reduced its workforce by another 50 employees.

• Research in Motion Limited -

Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, laid off about 200 people at its U.S. headquarters in Irving on Wednesday, according to a source close to the company who did not want to be named.

• Lightyear Network Solutions -

More than one dozen employees at a Pikeville company lost their jobs this week. Officials with Lightyear Network Solutions said they are consolidating offices in Louisville and Pikeville to save money.

• Providence Journal -

The Providence Journal Co. laid off 23 full-time workers Wednesday as part of a cost-cutting effort, including 16 members of the Providence Newspaper Guild and 7 non-union employees.

• Hawker Beechcraft -

The company says 240 employees will lose their jobs with the closing of Hawker Beechcraft Services facilities in Little Rock, Ark.; Mesa, Ariz.; and San Antonio, Texas.

• Boeing (30% of their management staff) -

Boeing Co. said Wednesday it plans to employ 30% fewer executives at its Boeing Defense, Space & Security unit by the end of 2012 compared to 2010 levels.

• CVPH Medical Center -

CVPH Medical Center has handed pink slips to 17 employees. The layoffs — nine in management and eight hourly staffers — are part of an effort to “help bolster the hospital’s financial position in 2013 and beyond,” a press release said.

• US Cellular -

The move will result in 980 job cuts at U.S. Cellular, with 640 in the Chicago area, according to a spokeswoman. The cuts are slightly under 12 percent of the approximately 8,400 total employees U.S. Cellular had at the end of the third quarter.

• Momentive Performance Materials -

About 150 workers at Sistersville’s Momentive Performance Materials plant will be temporarily laid off later this month, officials said this week.

• Rocketdyne -

About 100 employees at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, most of whom work in the San Fernando Valley, were laid off Wednesday in response to dwindling government spending on space exploration, the company said. The layoffs were effective immediately, and 75 percent of them came at the facilities on Canoga and De Soto avenues, which employ about 1,100 people. The company has six sites across the Valley.

• Brake Parts -

The leader of an automotive parts plant in Lincoln County has told state officials that there are plans to lay off 75 workers starting in late December…The layoffs are expected to start Dec. 28 and continue in the first quarter of 2013

• Vestas Wind Systems -

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) is seeking to sell a stake of as much as 20 percent and said it’s reducing headcount by 3,000 to raise the staff cuts by the biggest wind turbine maker to almost a third over two years.

• Husqvarna -

Husqvarna AB (HUSQB), the world’s biggest maker of powered garden tools, plans to cut about 600 jobs in a move that will save 220 million kronor ($33 million) a year by 2014.

• Center for Hospice New York -

The Center for Hospice and Palliative Care plans to temporarily lay off as many as 40 employees next year as it embarks on a major renovation of the inpatient unit at its Cheektowaga campus.

• Bristol-Meyers -

Bristol-Myers Squibb is following up its lackluster third-quarter results with almost 480 layoffs. As Pharmalot reports, the company notified the New Jersey government that it would scale back in Plainsboro, which means the cuts will hit its sales operations.

• OCE North America -

Trumbull printer- and scanning-equipment provider Oce North America, Inc. will lay off 135 workers in three Connecticut communities, including East Hartford, according to its notice with the state Labor Department.

• Darden Restaurants -

The company, which was among those who had received an Obamacare waiver in the past, is looking to limit workers to 28 hours per week. A full time employee that is required to have health insurance (lest the employer pay a fine) works 30 hours per week, as defined by the Obamacare law.

• West Ridge Mine -

In its statement, UtahAmerican Energy blames the Obama administration for instituting policies that will close down “204 American coal-fired power plants by 2014″ and for drastically reducing the market for coal.

• United Blood Services Gulf -

United Blood Services Gulf South region, the non-profit blood service provider for much of south Louisiana and Mississippi, will lay off approximately 10 percent of its workforce. It was a hard decision to make according to Susan Begnaud, Regional Center Director for the Gulf South region.

A layoff is tough enough for employees to deal with, imagine hearing the crushing news that your office is shutting down just before Thanksgiving and Christmas…  Here are some of the business closings that were announced in just the past two days:

• Caterpillar Inc. will close its plant in Owatonna Minn.
• Mount Pleasant’s Albrecht Sentry Foods
• The Target store at Manassas Mall Va.
• Millennium Academy in Wake Forest NC
• Target Closing Kissimmee FL Location
• The Andover Gift Shop in Andover MA
• Grand Union Family Markets Closing Storrs Location CT
• Movie Scene Milford Location NH
• Update: TE Connectivity Closing Greensboro Plant – 620 Layoffs Expected
• Gomer’s Fried Chicken in South Kansas City
• Kmart in Homer Glen
• Fresh Market on Pine Street in Burlington
• AGC Glass North America to permanently close its Blue Ridge Plant in Kingsport Tenn.
• The Target store at Platte and Academy in Colorado Springs
• The Roses store on Reynold Road in Winston-Salem NC
• Bost Harley-Davidson at 46th Avenue North and Delaware Ave. in West Nashville TN
• Townsend Booksellers in Oakland
• The Kmart store in Parkway Plaza off University Drive in Durham NC – 79 Jobs Lost

To see even more companies that announced layoffs since the election, visit the Daily Job Cuts page.

This story has been updated.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story stated: Meanders Kitchen losing its West Seattle location at 6032 California Ave. While the West Seattle location is closing, there is more to this story. TheBlaze has heard from the restaurant’s owner who told us:

 ”we’ve expanded into a much larger space with more than double the seating capacity.”

http://tinyurl.com/ahuzqqe

Moneynews - Unemployment Fell on Part-Time Workers, Not Real Improvement

The U.S. employment rate dropped to 7.8 percent in September from 8.1 percent in August, thanks largely to gains in part-time workers and not due to noted fundamental improvements in the labor market, said Peter Morici, a professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

The economy added a net 114,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, adding its household survey reported that total employment rose by 873,000 in September, much of which was due to an increase in part-time work. Some 582,000 Americans took part-time positions because of slack business conditions or those jobs were the only work they could find.

The number of unemployed Americans stands at 12.1 million, the fewest since January 2009, though keep the champagne on ice for now.

Watch our exclusive video. Story continues below. 

Read more: Morici: Unemployment Fell on Part-Time Workers, Not Real Improvement

"We’re basically creating jobs at the pace that the population grows. We’re not really getting a real decline in unemployment," he said.

"If we go back to when the recovery began, the unemployment rate was 10 percent. Today’s numbers, if the adult participation was where it was then, we’d be at 9.7-9.8 percent unemployment."

The number caught many market observers off guard, surprising many who were expecting the unemployment rate to remain steady or even rise to 8.2 percent.

Former General Electric boss Jack Welch said on his Twitter page that the numbers appeared manipulated.

"Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers," Welch said on his Twitter page, referring to President Barack Obama's performance in the first presidential debate earlier this week.

Editor's Note: Economist Unapologetically Calls Out Bernanke, Obama for Mishandling Economy. See What They Did

While the Obama administration did not likely cook the numbers, which is very hard to do, it shouldn't rush out and claim victory over a soft jobs market and a sluggish economy.

"The economy’s in neutral," Morici said.

"I would give the president the grade of C if he had just taken office and, frankly, a failing grade at this point in time given this very poor performance."...

Read more: Morici: Unemployment Fell on Part-Time Workers, Not Real Improvement