U.S. Economy Contracts As Mass Layoffs Squeeze Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/9768

As the U.S. economy suffered its largest contraction in seven years, two major employers announced mass layoffs. Jesse Russell reports:

Two major U.S. employers announced plans to lay off a combined 8,200 jobs on Thursday. Qwest Communications, the third largest U.S. local phone company announced plans to cut 1,200 jobs or a slimming of the workforce by three percent. Active phonelines for the Denver-based company dropped by 8.9 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, American Express also announced plans to cut jobs. Ten percent of the workforce will be slashed by the New York-based credit card company, roughly 7,000 jobs worldwide. The layoffs come as more Americans struggle with accumulated credit card debt and making payments on time. The Commerce said on Thursday that the economy shrank substantially in the third quarter with the Gross Domestic Product retreating by 0.3 percent.