Layoffs | featured news

Officials in Costa Mesa say they are just trying to solve a budget problem, but some see a political motive.

Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, adding to evidence that layoffs are slowing and employers may be stepping up hiring.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said on Friday he was canceling the layoff warning notices he sent late last week to public sector unions after lawmakers approved his proposal to restrict the collective bargaining rights of those unions.

AOL will slash its workforce 20%, according to a person familiar with the matter, eliminating 950 jobs in the U.S. and India as it struggles to resurrect its business.

The financially troubled city of Providence on Tuesday issued layoff notices to all its nearly 2,000 teachers because city officials say they must make an unknown number of cuts in the budget, and they want "maximum flexibility."

Layoffs are down, and at pre-recession levels, but hiring remains slow, Labor Department data showed.

Long-rumored layoffs at News Corp.'s Myspace social-networking site will be announced Tuesday. More than 500 jobs are expected to be cut.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to the lowest level since July 2008, a hopeful sign that improvement in the job market is accelerating.

More than 1,200 NASA workers will be laid off Friday, despite Congress passing a $19 billion budget for the space agency two days earlier.

Gov. David A. Paterson cited the state’s financial problems in announcing a decision that reverses an earlier pledge.