Total Bankruptcy Adds Mass Layoffs Information Section

Total Bankruptcy, already a source of extensive information about bankruptcy, credit, and the economy, has added a section reporting on the impact of mass layoffs across the country. The section includes the latest mass layoff statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, along with specific reports of recent, current, and upcoming mass layoffs across the country.

Mass layoffs impact the national economy, but their impact on local economies can be much more significant. The state of California saw nearly 50,000 jobs eliminated during April and May, 2006. That kind of concentration can create real crises in local economies, as hundreds or thousands of involuntarily unemployed workers suddenly find themselves in competition for the same limited pool of jobs.

Local economies can also be dramatically impacted by clusters of smaller layoffs, like the projected 9,000 jobs the Dayton, Ohio area expects to see eliminated by the end of the year.

Huge layoffs like those at MBNA and Sun Microsystems, which impact multiple local economies, can force people who were financially stable so long as their incomes were regular into debt — and even into bankruptcy. More localized layoffs, like the elimination of nearly 1,000 jobs at two North Carolina Furniture Brands, International (Broyhill / Pacemaker) plants, can have the same impact in a smaller region.

Other recent and upcoming significant layoffs:

• Whirlpool Corp.: 4,500 employees at Maytag plants in Herrin, Illinois; Newton, Iowa; and Searcy, Arkansas.

• Bank of America Corp.: 6,000 employees, due to the acquisition of MBNA.

• Washington Mutual: 550 workers in Jacksonville, Florida and 850 in Seattle, Washington.

• AOL: After closing its Orlando, Florida call center last year and eliminating 700 jobs, AOL moves forward with plans to close its Jacksonville call center and to reduce staff in Tucson, Arizona and Ogden, Utah.