Gateway to cut jobs

Gateway Inc. said Wednesday it would cut at least 450 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force, by closing a manufacturing plant in Virginia and consolidating operations.

The personal-computer maker will close a plant in Hampton, Va., by Sept. 30, eliminating 450 jobs. An undetermined number of jobs will be cut at plants in North Sioux City, S.D., where 2,500 people work, and in Sioux Falls, S.D., where 950 people work.

Gateway employs about 8,500 people. The effort marks Gateway’s latest effort to return to profitability after more than two years of losses.

Above, Gateway’s trademark cow-patterned boxes roll down the line at the company’s assembly plant in Hampton.

Labor statistics

K.C. hit hard by layoffs

Mass layoff actions hit a disproportionate number of Kansas City workers last year, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday.

An analysis of mass layoff actions — those that affect at least 50 workers at a single job site — ranked the Kansas City area 17th among all U.S. metropolitan areas in number of workers affected.

In comparison, the Kansas City area ranks 30th among metropolitan areas in its total employment base.

The analysis of 50 areas for 2002 tallied 49 mass layoff events in the Kansas City area, separating 11,598 workers from their jobs for at least a month. Layoffs from Sprint and Aquila have accounted for a large share of the job losses in 2002.

Among the top 50 areas, Orlando, Fla., last year recorded the fewest job losses because of mass layoffs –4,845. Chicago topped the 50-city list with 80,110 mass-layoff-related separations.

International

China offers no promises on currency changes

Brushing off American pressure for a freer currency, China’s premier offered U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow no promises Wednesday and reiterated his assertion that a stable yuan benefited both nations.

The outcome Wednesday of Snow’s two-day trip to Beijing offered little concrete hope for manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere, who believe the yuan is being deliberately undervalued to keep China’s exports competitive. China says it’s simply good financial sense for all involved.

While saying he had been assured that progress would come, Snow indicated the Chinese offered no timetable and likely wouldn’t be moving soon.

Government Survey

Identity theft affected 9.9 million in past year

More than 27 million people have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday.

The FTC released a survey showing that in the last year alone, 9.9 million people were victims of identity theft, costing them $5 billion and businesses and financial institutions almost $48 billion. The figures were extrapolated from a random survey of 4,057 adults, the agency said.