[jsfg_cinti] ARTICLE: High-profile layoffs don't spell doom

Dear JSFG Folks,

Here's some more news about the economy and the
current employment situation.  With luck this means
that the  prospects for finding a new job are good. 
Stay positive!

Regards,
Lance Feldman

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http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BE9E2108F%2D5F70%2D4A01%2D899B%2DC715B620B4B1%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=nwhpf
or
http://tinyurl.com/37ebcp

High-profile layoffs don't spell doom
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:52 PM ET Feb 21, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The headlines in the past
month have been troubling. "Chrysler to fire 13,000."
"Kodak says pink slips will hit 30,000." "Hershey to
kiss 1,500 workers goodbye."

Layoff announcements certainly get a lot of attention,
both on Wall Street and on the production lines.
Sometimes it seems as if no one's job is safe as the
corporate world relentlessly transforms itself with
mergers, restructurings, bankruptcies and constant
cost-cutting.

Is the recent spate of high-profile layoffs a warning
sign that the labor market is about to go soft? Should
you be worried about your job?
...
"Big layoffs cause people to wonder if the economy is
beginning to slip into a slowdown," said John
Challenger, whose outplacement firm, Challenger Gray &
Christmas, tracks monthly layoff announcements by big
U.S. companies. "Layoffs at these big iconic companies
create more fear and more worry." Challenger will
tally up February's layoff announcements on March 1.

Despite the fear induced by the headlines and the
tragedy experienced by individuals and communities,
most economists say the national labor market is
healthy. That is, outside of the recessionary housing
and auto sectors, which are still bleeding jobs.

No fear
"I'd say there's nothing to worry about at all" right
now, said Richard DeKaser, chief economist for
National City Bank in Cleveland. He noted that layoffs
reported by Challenger averaged just 70,000 a month in
2006. "They are scary low," compared with the height
of layoffs in 2001 and 2002, when more than twice as
many layoffs were announced each month.

As evidence of underlying strength, the national
unemployment rate was 4.6% in January, not much higher
than the cyclical low of 4.4%. The jobless rate is so
low, in fact, that the Federal Reserve is more worried
about an acceleration of wages leading to higher
prices than it is about a growth slowdown.

More than 2 million net new jobs have been added in
the past year. Some companies complain that they can't
find enough qualified workers to fill the openings
they have.
...

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