Macy's (M) Cuts Another 7000
It has been nearly a year since
Macy's (M) made their first cut of 2300 (white collar) at the time (
Feb 6, 2008: Macy's Cutting 2300 Jobs - White Collar; Out You Go) - I wrote then (boy it sounds familiar expect back then all the pundits were in denial about what was coming; now at least some of the "converted" pundits sound a lot like me - others remain in dream land)
Well here we're now seeing more of the large scale layoffs in the "service economy" courtesy of Macy's (M). We had already seen it in retail in Ann Taylor (ANN) and Home Depot (HD) but on smaller scale. This is what economic contraction is all about... I am sure the unemployment rate will somehow fall to 4.7% of you listen to government reports but the reality is the reality. We have too many stores - our retail culture was built on overspending credit induced over indulgence. The Fed is trying to push us back into that bad habit with their easy money. But it's going to be tough with home prices falling and people feeling unease about their jobs... along with inflation that the government denies exists affecting their real day to day purchases.
Remember the evil in a service economy where you produce very little of value outside the country is each 100 people gone from Macy's white collar means less money to go to the entire service web - dog groomer, nail technician, grocer, hair stylist, lawn cutter, snow shoveler, etc etc.
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