IF THE ECONOMY IS RECOVERING HOW COME SO MANY PEOPLE ARE GETTING FIRED?

I thought unemployment was dropping. The biggest companies in the U.S. have announced 22% more mass firings this year than last year. The announcements of layoffs are coming fast and furious as accounting tricks can no longer hide the fact that revenues and earnings are falling. We already know that small companies are not hiring, so a critical thinking person might ask how the unemployment rate keeps dropping. I have a feeling the number of people NOT IN THE LABOR FORCE will be surging upwards in the next few BLS misinformation reports. We now have a perfect storm for employment in the U.S.

• Mega-corporations are laying off thousands.
• State and local governments must layoff people as they try to balance their budgets without help from the Feds
• Obamacare will keep small businesses from hiring and completely stop entreprenuers from starting businesses
• Major retailers and restaurant chains will convert full time workers to part time workers to avoid the impact of Obamacare
• The recession and continued layoffs will result in lower consumer spending, which will result in more retailers going under, closing stores, and laying off workers
• The 2% payroll tax cut will expire on January 1, resulting in an immediate decline of disposable income of $1,000 for a median income family and $2,000 for a family making $100,000.
• The uncertainty of the fiscal cliff will keep all businesses from making any hiring or capital spending decisions.

So, based on these facts, the brainless twits on CNBC say it’s the best time to buy stocks. The shysters at the National Assoc of Realtors say it’s the best time to buy a house. What do you think?

Firings Reach Highest Since 2010 as Ford to Dow Face Sales Slump

By Chris Burritt

Ford Motor Co. (F) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) joined a growing number of companies firing thousands of workers as sluggish U.S. growth and Europe’s deepening recession lead to a persisting slump in sales.

North American companies have announced plans to eliminate 62,600 positions at home and abroad since Sept. 1, the biggest two-month drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Firings total 158,100 so far this year, more than the 129,000 job cuts in the same period in 2011.

Ford is closing its first European car-assembly factories in 10 years, adding to more than 5,500 cuts announced by Dow Chemical, DuPont Co. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) in the past week. The reductions coincide with a majority of U.S. companies missing analysts’ third-quarter revenue estimates and a focus on jobs in the final weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign.

More