Made in America: Lockheed Martin announces 1,000 worker voluntary layoff program, no jobs affected in Arkansas

Editor’s note: Each Sunday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Made In America,” a round-up of state and global manufacturing news.

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LOCKHEED MARTIN ANNOUNCES 1,000 WORKER VOLUNTARY LAYOFF PROGRAM, NO JOBS AFFECTED IN ARKANSAS
Lockheed Martin’s Aeronautics business announced a voluntary layoff program that is targeted at reducing payroll by 1,000 positions at several locations in the United States, the defense giant announced. The voluntary program is available to mid-level employee groups in Fort Worth, Texas; Marietta, Ga., Palmdale, Calif., Meridian, Miss., Clarksburg, W. Va., Patuxent River, Md., and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The action is necessary to position Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to be competitive in the future marketplace, secure future business opportunities, and keep an infrastructure appropriately aligned with customer demands, the company said. Lockheed Martin has a major aerodefense facility in East Camden, Arkansas, which was not included on the target list.

PENTAGON AUTHORIZES U.S. MILITARY TO BEGIN INTEGRATION OF WOMEN IN ALL MILITARY ROLES
The Department of Defense on Thursday (March 10) authorized all branches of the U.S. military to begin integrating women across all occupations and specialties “right away.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter formally approved the final implementation plans prepared by the military services and U.S. Special Operations Command (Socom) to integrate women into “all combat roles,” the Pentagon said.

The review was the culmination of years of studies and reports going back to 2011 when former Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta ordered an examination of all laws and policies governing the assignment of women in the armed forces.

NEARLY 2 MILLION PEOPLE ‘MARGINALLY ATTACHED’ TO THE LABOR FORCE IN FEBRUARY 2016
In February 2016, 1.8 million people were marginally attached to the labor force. These are individuals not in the labor force, wanting work and available for work, and looking for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the monthly survey.

Among the marginally attached in February 2016, 599,000 were discouraged workers, or people not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. Among discouraged workers, 363,000 (60.6%) were men. Among the remaining 1.2 million people marginally attached to the labor force, 624,000 (51.8%) were women. This group includes people who did not actively look for work in the prior 4 weeks for such reasons as school or family responsibilities, ill health, transportation problems, and other reasons.

U.S. STEEL SHIPMENTS ON THE RISE, TRADE GROUP SAYS
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported on Wednesday (March 9) that U.S. steel mills shipped 7,031,307 net tons in January, a 7.2% percent increase from the 6,556,342 net tons shipped in the previous month, December 2015, and a 9.4% decrease from the 7,762,742 net tons shipped in January 2015. A comparison of January 2016 shipments to the previous month of December 2015 shows the following changes: hot dipped galvanized sheets, up 13%, cold rolled sheets, up 12% and hot rolled sheets, up 2%.