Jan. 5, 2009  Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three states in recent days amid an unprecedented crush of thousands of newly jobless Americans seeking benefits, and other states were adjusting their systems to avoid being next.

About 4.5 million Americans are collecting jobless benefits, a 26-year high, so the Web sites and phone systems now commonly used to file for benefits are being tested like never before.

Even those that are holding up under the strain are in many cases leaving filers on the line for hours, or kissing them off with an "all circuits are busy" message. Agencies have been scrambling to hire hundreds more workers to handle the calls.

Systems in New York, North Carolina and Ohio were shut down completely by technical glitches and heavy volume, and labor officials in several other states are reporting higher-than-normal use.

"Regardless of when you call, be prepared to wait and just hang on. Try not to get frustrated," said Howard Cosgrove, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, which boosted its staff of telephone operators by 25 percent last month to cope with a phone system that has been overloaded for weeks. "We sympathize, we're on their side, we're doing our best to help them out."

The nation's unemployment rate in November zoomed to 6.7 percent, a 15-year high. Economists predict it will rise to 7 percent in December, with another 500,000 jobs probably cut last month. The government releases its monthly employment report on Friday.

Some states attribute the increase in call volume in part to an extension of federal emergency unemployment compensation from 13 weeks to 20 weeks in late November. More than 54,000 Pennsylvanians had exhausted their federal benefits after 13 weeks by the time that occurred, said David Smith, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

"It really was a perfect storm," he said.

New York's phone and Internet claims system started to buckle on Monday afternoon and was out of service completely for the first half of Tuesday while as many as 10,000 people per hour tried to get in, said Leo Rosales, a state Labor Department spokesman.

Although that was an unusually high number of calls, Rosales said it was a software glitch in an authentication system used to verify filers' identities that caused the system to crash.

"It's designed to handle this volume of calls, but the authentication process didn't work as it should have," he said. Rosales said the glitch that caused the shutdown has been fixed, and the agency doesn't expect any more problems.

About 256,000 people are collecting unemployment in New York, up from about 184,000 at this time last year.

North Carolina's Web site crashed twice this week under a rush of claims as that state set one-day records for both the amount of benefits paid and the number of transactions.

On Sunday and Monday, the number of North Carolinians trying to sign up online for new or continuing benefits was about triple what it was before the economic slowdown started, according to the state Employment Security Commission. That volume, together with a phone line problem, overwhelmed the agency's computers and prevented some people from filing claims.

The system was working again by Monday afternoon after the agency added another server and demand decreased, officials said.

"Right now, everything is back to normal," agency spokesman Larry Parker said.

Mark Turner, 39, of Raleigh said Tuesday that North Carolina's site had an easy setup when he started using the site after he was laid off in November.

But on Sunday, he couldn't logon to the site. "I basically gave up for the night at 10:30 after trying and not getting through," he said Tuesday. "Once you get on the site, you can be done in half a minute. Apparently that was too much."

Turner, who's since landed a temporary job, suggested the site separate people trying to get recertified and people signing up for the first time. "I think it's going to get worse before it gets better," he said.

Thousands were unable to get through to Ohio's unemployment hot line beginning Monday because of a crush of callers and technical problems, said Dennis Evans, spokesman for the state Department of Job and Family Services. He said the phone system was running normally again Tuesday afternoon, but the section of the state's Web site that enables people to make claims online remained down.

California has seen a record number of calls to an 800 number over the last few weeks.

"During this holiday period we've been averaging a record of more than 2 million call attempts a day, and it took more than 20 times before people could get through to our UI call centers," said Employment Development Department spokeswoman Patti Roberts.

That's about twice the one-day record of call attempts set in 2004 during an earlier recession, she said.

Callers to Michigan's main phone line handling applications for jobless benefits got an "all circuits are busy now" message Tuesday afternoon. Officials in Michigan, which had the nation's highest jobless rate at 9.6 percent in November, recently began urging applicants to seek benefits through a state Internet site instead. Michigan counted about 473,000 people as unemployed in November, up from about 370,000 a year ago.

Unemployment agencies from Kentucky to Alaska also are reporting long hold times for callers and slowdowns for those filing online because of higher volume.

Several states have added staff to their call centers to handle the surge, including Ohio, Oklahoma and Washington.

Pennsylvania has hired temporary workers and expanded the hours of its unemployment benefits hot line to accommodate a surge in the number of calls, going from 600 employees to more than 800. Officials hope to eventually have 1,100 workers answering calls.

New Mexico has extended call-center hours, upgraded the phone system and added 15 workers. Even so, "We still are receiving reports of people's inability to get through," said Carrie Moritomo, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Workforce Solutions.

In Kentucky, where claims rose to 40,400 in November from 23,400 a year earlier, a flood of new filers overwhelmed the state's unemployment Web site and phone lines on Monday, when more than 8,000 people filed initial claims, said Kim Brannock, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Education Cabinet, which oversees the state unemployment office.

"People seem to feel like they have to file first thing Monday morning," she said. "They don't have to, but they feel that way. It's just overwhelming to the system." Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed

Average rents for U.S. apartments fell in the fourth quarter, as a sharp economic downturn and rising unemployment left Americans unwilling to pay higher prices, according to data released on Wednesday.

Rents fell 0.4 percent in the final quarter of 2008, the first decline since early 2003, the study by real estate research firm Reis Inc found.

The vacancy rate rose to 6.6 percent, a level last seen in the first quarter of 2005, and up from 5.7 percent a year earlier.

While few Americans typically move in the fourth quarter, as they face the onset of the northern hemisphere winter and several national holidays, the decline in rents shows that landlords are moving quickly to try to keep vacancies down, said Victor Calanog, director of research at Reis.

"The quantity of rental apartments might not be suffering as much, but the price paid by households to occupy those rental units is buckling under the strain, with landlords lowering asking rents and raising the amount of concessions they are willing to provide," Calanog said.

The current global economic downturn can be traced back to the decline in U.S. home prices that began in the middle of the decade. That led to a collapse in the subprime lending market, which last year snowballed into a global credit crunch.

The slump is not confined to residential properties. Reis data released on Tuesday showed that office rents across the United States fell 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter, as a slumping economy drove vacancy rates higher.

Shares of major U.S. owners of apartment complexes including Apartment Investment and Management Co, Equity Residential and AvalonBay Communities Inc have been pummeled in recent months.

Germany posted its first rise in unemployment in almost three years on Wednesday, a day after the global economic downturn forced U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa to announce 15,000 job cuts and slash output.

UK retailer Marks & Spencer added to the gloom in Europe with its worst quarterly sales figures in a decade, while Russia's dispute with Ukraine over natural gas threatened shortages for homes and factories in eastern Europe.

"We expect challenging economic conditions to continue for at least the next 12 months," said M&S Chairman Stuart Rose, after the 125-year-old clothing, food and homewares group posted a 7.1 percent slide in UK quarterly sales and announced over a thousand job cuts.

The Labour Office in Germany said unemployment in December rose by a seasonally adjusted 18,000, the first rise since February 2006, which will give extra impetus to a new stimulus package for Europe's largest economy, which is likely to be finalized next week and could total 50 billion euros ($67 billion).

"How steep the rise in unemployment will be hinges largely on what the government agrees to do in its second stimulus package," said Joerg Lueschow, economist at WestLB.

COMPANIES UNDER PRESSURE

The German data added to bad news from Tuesday that included bankruptcy protection filings by the U.S. units of LyondellBasell, the world's third-largest petrochemical company, and helped cool a New Year's shares rally in Europe, where Swiss bank UBS is a major creditor of the company.

"The bankruptcy filing in the U.S. by LyondellBasell is not a good sign. It could be the first of a long series of defaults and Chapter 11 filings by industrial groups. These companies are still under pressure on two fronts: profitability and refinancing, and that's not about to change," said Sebastien Barthelemi, analyst at Louis Capital Markets in Paris.

Germany's ruling coalition is discussing support measures worth up to 100 billion euros for firms in financial trouble, the Financial Times Deutschland daily reported.

And Tokyo's Mainichi newspaper said the government may inject money into 40 or more regional banks, though an official at Japan's Financial Services Agency said no broad injection of public funds was under consideration.

Even so, Japanese shares ended 1.7 percent higher, and MSCI's all-country world stock index, a benchmark for many investors, was up 0.62 percent as of 1058 GMT, but in Europe the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.65 percent.

Alcoa's job cuts and its plan to slash aluminum output by 18 percent came ahead of U.S. employment numbers due on Friday which are expected to show the economy shed half a million jobs in December alone, taking total 2008 job losses to more than 2.4 million.

IN Asia, both Indonesia and Taiwan announced interest rate cuts on Wednesday, while Thai ministers are due to discuss a stimulus package flagged at $8.6 billion.

Taiwan's emergency rate cut followed a 42 percent plunge in December exports.

Alcoa Inc said on Tuesday it would slash more than 15,000 jobs, halve capital spending and sell four businesses as it reduces aluminum production in the face of the global economic downturn.

The largest U.S. aluminum producer said it imposed a global salary and hiring freeze as it seeks to cope with what Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld called "extraordinary times."

The cuts, the third in as many months, come less than a week before Alcoa is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter results. Alcoa said it would take almost $1 billion in charges in the quarter. Analysts expect the company to post a 1-cent per-share loss, according to Reuters Estimates,.

In after-hours trading following the news, Alcoa's shares were down nearly 4 percent at $11.64.

"Alcoa is going to get hit by some really big metal price declines and the only way to fix it is to reduce output," said analyst Charles Bradford, of Bradford Research/Soleil. "I think they need to do more. That's the only thing you can do to get the price going."

Kevin Kruszenski, head of listed trading at KeyBanc Capital Markets in Cleveland, said the cuts could help Alcoa in the long run.

"As demand dropped off in the fourth quarter of 2008, steel companies were quick to cut production. I think the market will reward them for taking this capacity off line and cutting staff. It's smart in this environment."

Alcoa said targeted reductions, curtailments and plant closures and consolidations, mostly in the United States and Europe, including Russia, would reduce its headcount by more than 13,500 employees or 13 percent of the worldwide workforce by the end of 2009. An additional 1,700 contractor positions also will be eliminated.

Also, smelting reductions of more than 135,000 tonnes per year will be implemented, resulting in reduction of total primary aluminum output by more than 750,000 tonnes, or 18 percent of annualized output. In November, Alcoa said it would cut 350,000 tonnes of production and in October it curtailed output at its 265,000-tonne smelter in Rockdale, Texas.

Production of alumina, which is refined from bauxite and smelted into aluminum, also will be reduced accordingly to a total of 1.5 million tonnes in response to market conditions, Alcoa said. Curtailments will be fully implemented by the end of the first quarter 2009.

Alcoa said total charges for the fourth quarter due to restructuring, impairment and other special charges are expected to be between $900 million and $950 million after tax, or $1.13 to $1.19 per share, of which about 80 percent is non-cash.

The restructuring and divestiture program is expected to save about $450 million before taxes on an annualized basis, it said. Capital expenditures in 2009 are projected to be down to $1.8 billion, a 50-percent decrease from 2008.

Alcoa said it also intends to divest four non-core downstream businesses: Electrical and Electronic Systems; Global Foil; Cast Auto Wheels; and Transportation Products Europe. The businesses had 2008 combined revenues of $1.8 billion and an estimated after-tax operating loss of about $105 million. Expected net proceeds for the divestitures are estimated to be approximately $100 million.

The price of aluminum has slumped some 50 percent since peaking at $3,380 per tonne last July as the global economic downturn has hit demand for the metal which is used for aircraft and auto bodies and products such as kitchen foil and beverage cans. On Tuesday, aluminum was selling for around $1,600 per tonne.

Alcoa's shares hit a 52-week high on the New York Stock Exchange of $44.76 in May 2008 and a 52-week low of $6.82 in November. It was the second-weakest performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during 2008.

Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed

Mexico is facing spiraling violence MONTERREY, Mexico   Gunmen threw a grenade and opened fire outside a television news station during its evening broadcast in Mexico on Tuesday and left a message warning journalists from reporting on drug war violence.

Gunmen hurled the grenade at the regional studios of Mexico's top broadcaster Grupo Televisa in the northern city of Monterrey during the evening news show, the station's reporters said live on the air.

No one was hurt in the attack, believed to be the first against a TV station in Mexico, and in which the gunmen sprayed one of the complex's outside doors with bullets. The grenade exploded in a studio workshop used to build sets.

Gunmen also left a handwritten message on a car bumper near the studio that read: "Stop reporting just on us. Report on the narco's political leaders," in a apparent reference to the Mexican government.

Mexico is facing spiraling violence between warring drug gangs and the army in a battle that killed some 5,700 people last year.

Attacks on the media have mounted since President Felipe Calderon launched his military assault on cartels at the end of 2006. Suspected drug hitmen shot dead a crime reporter in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in November.

Since 2006, 15 journalists have been killed in Mexico, making it one of the world's most dangerous countries for the media, according to the U.S.-based nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists.

Monterrey, a prosperous manufacturing and services city close to the U.S. border, was mainly calm in the drug war last year, but the powerful Gulf cartel and its feared Zeta hitmen run drugs through the area to Texas.

In October, gunmen shot at the U.S. consulate in Monterrey and threw a grenade that did not explode. Mexico is facing spiraling violence

Jan. 5, 2009 Glassware and china retailer Waterford Wedgwood  WWW files for bankruptcy protection after failing to secure new funding or find a buyer. Deloitte appointed administrators.
Dec. 31, 2008 Childrenswear firm Adams files for bankruptcy protection and appoints PriceWaterHouseCoopers administrators.
Dec. 29, 2008 British clothing chain USC files for bankruptcy protection. Administrator Bryan Jackson secured the sale of 43 of the group's 58 stores to Dundonald Holdings.
Dec. 24, 2008 Music and DVD retailer Zavvi, formerly Virgin Megastores, appoints Ernst & Young administrators.
Dec. 23, 2008 Tea-and-coffee specialist Whittard of Chelsea collapses and is immediately bought by private-equity group Epic.
Menswear retailer the Officers Club files for bankruptcy protection.
Nov. 26, 2008 U.K. sweets-to-DVD retailer Woolworths appoints Deloitte administrators and announces closure of all 800 stores by the first week of January.
Furniture and fitted-kitchen retailer MFI files for bankruptcy protection.

Satyam Computer Services' disclosure Wednesday that it had misrepresented its financial numbers raised fears that India's largest alleged corporate fraud to date will impact the corporate sector and foreign investment.
"It's something very unexpected. It will make a major dent in the credibility of the corporate sector," said K.H. Vishwanathan, executive director at India-based audit firm RSM Consulting Group.
His comments were in response to the announcement by Satyam (SAY:
satyam computer services ltd adr
  Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju that the company had inflated its cash and bank balances on the balance sheet by more than $1 billion. See full story.
Some brokerages also moved fast to suspend the rating on the company, India's fourth-largest software exporter and one of the best-known brands outside the country, following the announcement.
"We believe that the current event will inflict collateral damage to the [information technology] sector's premium valuations vis-à-vis broader markets, as well as could dent foreign investor faith in other Indian companies," Emkay Research analyst Manik Taneja wrote in a report.
Chart of SAY
Emkay, as well as Angel Broking discontinued their rating on Satyam stock, which crashed more than 70% after the announcement, wiping out millions of dollars in its market value.
Angel Broking analyst Harit Shah dubbed Satyam "India's 'Enron'", adding Satyam's misrepresentation constituted "one of the biggest-ever frauds in Indian corporate history."
A spokeswoman for Aberdeen Asset Management, one of the largest investors in Satyam, declined to comment immediately, but said the asset management firm was likely to issue a statement later.
Mike Davies, a London-based spokesman for Satyam's external auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, also said the accounting firm will issue a statement later.
"Based on our experience, I think it can't happen without the knowledge of the auditor. [The auditors] may not know 100%, but there would definitely have been some leads for them to latch on to," said RSM's Vishwanathan, noting that the financial misrepresentation by the company happened over a period of several years, according to Raju's letter.
The Indian software industry's umbrella body, meanwhile, played down the likely impact of Satyam's disclosure on the industry.
"While the law will take its own course, this incident is particularly unfortunate as the Indian information technology-business process outsourcing industry had set very high standards of ethics and corporate governance," the influential National Association of Software and Service Companies said in a statement.
"This is a stand-alone case of failure of corporate governance and it is critical that it be viewed in this light," Nasscom added.
The Indian government also got into the act, meantime, with corporate affairs minister P.C. Gupta reportedly saying the contents of Raju's letter were being verified.
"Once the contents are verified, proper action will be taken," Gupta said at a press conference, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Orleans Parish District Attorney's office can't afford to pay several multi-million dollar settlements and could soon be bankrupt -- which could shut down the city's justice system.

Filing bankruptcy is something the newly elected Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro doesn't take lightly.

The payout settlements are the latest problems to fall on an already financially troubled office, which recently asked the City Council for $2.5 million to avoid laying off 20 workers.
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"It's been hard so far -- very hard," said Cannizzaro. "It's nothing I didn't expect."

One of the many financial obstacles Cannizzaro faces is a $15 million judgment that found the district attorney's office at fault was handed down by a federal jury last month.

"This action, this misconduct for which the district attorney's office was found to be liable, did not occur under my watch," said Cannizzaro.

Still, the payout could occur under his term.

Cannizzaro plans to appeal to the highest court if necessary. In the meantime, he said he's doing what he can to protect taxpayer money by asking the state for permission to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

"In the event that the plaintiff's start to seize the assets of this office -- bank accounts, equipment, furnishings, etc. -- I want to be in a position to go into the courtroom and stop that," Cannizzaro said.

Rafael Goyeneche, from the Metropolitan Crime Commission, said a lack of funds could cripple the system.

"If those funds aren't there, those people can't afford to work for free," said Goyeneche. "That means it shuts down the district attorney's office, but it also shuts down the entire criminal justice system."

According to Goyeneche, if the district attorney's office shut down the attorney general would most likely have to assume the role of prosecuting criminals -- but that could take months because that office currently lacks the personnel and funding to take on those tasks.

This is the first time in 40 years that a municipality in Louisiana has pursued the option of filing for bankruptcy.

"It's an extremely important time in this city's history," Cannizzaro said. "This is going to determine whether we come back, whether there is going to be recovery or not."