Latest layoffs:

Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) increases previously announced layoffs--bringing total to 10,000 workers, or 6% of the company’s workforce.

Jan. 28: Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) organizes closings at 900 stores worldwide and fires 6,700 in the process.

Jan. 28: Target (nyse: TGT - news - people ) cuts 400 open positions and 600 employees on sagging sales.

Jan. 27: Time Warner’s (nyse: TWX - news - people ) AOL reduces workforce by 10% (700 workers) as it fights declining ad revenue.

Jan. 27: Cabinet company Merillat--a subsidiary of Masco (nyse: MAS - news - people )--cuts 20% of workforce (70 workers).

See layoffs by month:

January 2009

December 2008

November 2008

The merger puts one of the credit crisis's good guys under pressure.

In good times and bad, Skadden's lawyers make money on upheavals in global capitalism.

From left, Joe Flom, Eric Friedman and Robert Sheenan

Ford Motor Co. says it lost $5.9 billion in the fourth quarter but it has no plans to seek federal aid unless economic conditions worsen.

The second-largest U.S. automaker says it burned through $5.5 billion in cash during the quarter.

The company said Thursday it lost $2.46 per share, compared with a loss of $2.8 billion, or $1.13 per share, for the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time items, Ford lost $1.37 per share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $1.30 per share.

Revenue fell to $29.2 billion, down from $45.5 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007.

The Dearborn, Mich., company also announced that its credit arm would cut 20 percent of its work force, or 1,200 jobs, and it has reached agreement with the United Auto Workers Union to end the jobs bank in which laid-off workers get most of their pay.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time record, the government said Thursday, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.

The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967.

A department analyst said that as a proportion of the work force, the tally of unemployment recipients is the highest since August 1983.

The total released by the department doesn't include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer. That means the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the tally of Americans filing new jobless benefit claims rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 588,000 last week, from a downwardly revised figure of 585,000 the previous week.

That's close to the 26-year high of 589,000 reached in late December, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.

The Labor Department's report comes as large corporations from virtually all sectors of the economy are announcing massive layoffs.

It takes a lot to blunt the optimism of the American people, and this recession has certainly put a dent on our outlook. However, when we measure how people feel about their long-term goals in life, it is remarkable how optimistic they remain.

At Zogby International, one unique way we measure those attitudes is by asking whether people believe they and their families can achieve the American Dream. In December, I wrote about the growing number of people who see the American Dream as a measure of spiritual, rather than material, achievement. Given the hard economic times, let's look more closely at its financial dimensions.

Over a two-month period, separate Zogby Interactive polls found the percentage of likely voters saying they believe in the American Dream dropped from 67% immediately after the election to 56% in the second week of January. Anytime you see a dip of 11 points over such a short period, you know something significant is happening.

Yet, I am even more struck that a majority still believes they can realize the American Dream during a time that many say is the worst since the Great Depression. There was not a single demographic group we measure (age, income, race, religious habits, etc.) where the plurality did not express this belief. The near exception was among those with family incomes of $25,000 to $35,000, who were equally as likely to believe they could achieve the dream (36.6%) as to say it does not exist (36.6%).

What motivates our citizenry to see that ideal within reach when banks are failing and jobs are being shed by all sorts of businesses? In an early January Zogby Interactive poll of nearly 3,500 likely voters, we offered reasons why they might believe or disbelieve in their chances of achieving the American Dream and asked them to choose the two that most applied.

We found that the objective reality of their current job or financial situation was often secondary. For believers, faith in themselves and the American ideal of opportunity for those who want it ranked highest. Those who said the American Dream did not exist were most likely to blame the powerful who didn't care about them. Next was rejection of the idea of U.S. exceptionalism.

Here are the top reasons for believing in the national dream:

Associated Press

Apple CEO Jobs backtracks on health, takes leave

Apple Inc. co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Wednesday he is taking a medical leave until the end of June - just a week after the cancer survivor tried to assure investors and employees his recent weight loss was caused by an easily treatable hormone deficiency.

Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )'s stock plunged 7 percent.

Jobs, 53, said in a letter last week that he would remain at Apple's helm despite the hormone problem, and that he had already begun a "relatively simple and straightforward" treatment. But in an e-mail to employees Wednesday, Jobs backtracked.

"During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought," he wrote.

Apple's shares have surged and crashed over the last year in step with rumors or news about the CEO's health and his gaunt appearance. While the top executive's health is an issue for investors in any company, at Apple the level of concern reaches fever pitch because Jobs has a hand in everything from ideas for new products to the way they're marketed. Investors fear that without Jobs, Apple will not be able to sustain its growth of the last decade, which has seen Apple branch out from its Mac computers into the iPod and the iPhone.

Last week, Jobs said his disclosure of his hormone problem was "more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say" about his health. It came on the eve of Macworld, the biggest Apple trade show of the year, and Jobs said he wanted everyone to relax and enjoy the show.

Even so, the limited amount of medical information in that announcement did little to soothe Wall Street's nerves, and in interviews last week analysts predicted that the health watch would continue.

Shopping online can be a way to find bargains while steering clear of crowds - and sales taxes.

But those tax breaks are starting to erode. With the recession pummeling states' budgets, their governments increasingly want to fill the gaps by collecting taxes on Internet sales, which are growing even as the economy shudders.

And that is sparking conflict with companies that do business online only and have enjoyed being able to offer sales-tax free shopping.

One of the most aggressive states, New York, got sued by Amazon.com Inc. over a new requirement that online companies must collect taxes on shipments to New York residents, even if the companies are located elsewhere. New York's governor also wants to tax "Taxman" covers and other songs downloaded from Internet services like iTunes.

The amount of money at stake nationwide is unclear; online sales were expected to make up about 8 percent of all retail sales in 2008 and total $204 billion, according to Forrester Research. This is up from $175 billion in 2007.

Based on that 2008 figure, Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru says her rough estimate is that if Web retailers had to collect taxes on all sales to consumers, it could generate $3 billion in new revenue for governments.

It's uncertain how much more could come as well from unpaid sales taxes on Internet transactions between businesses. But even with both kinds of taxes available, state budgets would need more help. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the states' budget gaps in the current fiscal year will total $89 billion.

Collecting online sales taxes is not as simple as it might sound. A nationwide Internet business faces thousands of tax-collecting jurisdictions - states, counties and cities - and tangled rules about how various products are taxed.

And a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said that states can't force businesses to collect sales taxes unless the businesses have operations in that state. The court also said Congress could lift the ban, which remains in place - for now.

As a result, generally only businesses with a "physical presence" in a state - such as a store or office building - collect sales tax on products sent to buyers in the same state. For instance, a Californian buying something from Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Web site pays sales tax because the bookseller has stores in the Golden State. Buying the same thing directly from Amazon would not ring up sales tax.

That doesn't mean products purchased online from out-of-state companies are necessarily tax-free. Consumers are usually supposed to self-report taxes on these items. This is called a use tax, but not surprisingly, it tends to go unreported.

In hopes of unraveling the complex tax rules - and bringing states more money - 22 states and many brick-and-mortar retailers support the efforts of a group called the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. The group is getting states to simplify and make uniform their numerous tax rates and rules, in exchange for a crack at taxing online sales.

Among other things, participating states need to change how they define things such as "food" and "clothing." For example, one state might now consider a T-shirt clothing and tax it as such, while another might consider it a sporting good and tax it differently.

In response, more than 1,100 retailers have registered with the streamlining group and are collecting sales taxes on items shipped to states that are part of the agreement - even if they are not legally obligated to.

The streamlining board also is lobbying Congress to let the participating states do what the Supreme Court ruling banned: They could force businesses to collect taxes on sales made to in-state customers, even if the businesses don't have a physical presence there.

New Jersey, Michigan and North Carolina are among the largest of the 19 states that have adjusted their tax laws to fully comply with the group's streamlined setup. Washington was the only state to join in 2008, but three more states are close to becoming full members of the group. And Scott Peterson, the group's executive director, expects another seven states - including Texas, Florida and Illinois - to introduce legislation in January that would make them eligible to join.

Undoing the patchwork can be difficult, even if the weak economy increases states' motivation to go after online sales taxes. Similar bills have been introduced in several states and failed, sometimes because of the cost of changing tax laws. New York, for example, decided against joining the streamlining board because it would require extensive revisions to its tax rules.

Besides various states and retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Borders Group Inc. and J.C. Penney Co., the National Retail Federation, the industry's biggest trade group, also supports the Streamlined Sales Tax group.

Companies that handle Web sales only have organized as well. NetChoice, whose members include eBay Inc. and online discount retailer Overstock.com Inc., supports the states' tax simplification efforts, but its executive director, Steve DelBianco, says online retailers should have to collect taxes only in states where they have a physical presence.

But what if the meaning of "physical presence" is changed? New York essentially did that in April when its budget included a provision requiring online retailers like Amazon to collect taxes on purchases made by New Yorkers.

The new rule requires retailers to collect sales tax if they solicit business in New York by paying anyone within the state for leading customers to them. Since some Web site operators within New York are compensated for posting ads that link to sites like Amazon, the online retailers would have to collect taxes.

Matt Anderson, spokesman for the New York State Division of the Budget, said the state expects to reap $23 million during the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, from newly collected online sales taxes.

That's a sliver of the overall state budget for the same period, which is $119.7 billion. The state faces a revenue gap of $1.7 billion.

Yet Anderson said the state wants "to level the playing field and end the "unfair competitive advantage" Web-only companies have over brick-and-mortar stores that can't avoid collecting sales taxes.

Amazon complies, and collects sales taxes on shipments to New York. It tried fighting the constitutionality of the rule by suing the state in April, but this week a judge rejected the claim.

Salt Lake City-based Overstock also lost a lawsuit against New York over the law, though it plans to appeal. Unlike Amazon, Overstock is not collecting sales tax in New York, because it ended agreements with about 3,400 affiliates in the state that were being paid for directing traffic to Overstock.com.

The Streamlined Sales Tax group hopes Congress takes up its uniform-tax idea in 2009. Peterson thinks the dismal economy boosts the chances of passage.

But Congress also will be occupied with economic stimulus plans involving bigger pools of money. And Mulpuru, the Forrester Research analyst, notes that for years there has been talk of taxing online retailers.

"It's a legal morass," she said. "In a best-case scenario, it's going to take a while to sort everything out."

Top Cash-Back Car Deals

Battered dealers this month are offering unheard-of buyer incentives.

In Depth: Top Cash-Back Car Deals

The retail industry isn't the only one luring shoppers withhefty discounts. Battered car dealers this month are offeringunheard-of cash-back deals--in some cases up to 30% off the MSRP.

Detroit'sBig Three in particular are offering buyers thousands of dollars incash, including $8,000 in total rebates to qualified buyers of Chevrolet's Tahoe and Suburban models. Those who buy a 2009 Mercedes CLK get $6,000 cash back. Drive off with a 2008 Saturn Vue XE and pocket $3,750. To expedite the sales process, cash-back incentives are usually applied directly to the purchase price.

n short, there has never been a better time to buy a new car.

In Depth: Top Cash-Back Car Deals

But don't get too comfortable with all that green. Automakers--notably Chrysler and General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people )--willlikely put the brakes on their incentive offerings this spring as the$17.4 billion rescue package begins to lessen their financial strain.

"Thesedeals won't be as plentiful going forward, as lots of the '08 stockwill be done in '09," says Jessica Caldwell, manager of pricing andindustry analysis for auto data source Edmunds.com. "There probablywon't be a time as good as this. Things will plateau, and there willstill be a lot of deals available, but it's going to look a little lessrosy."

Behind the Numbers
To find the best cash-back deals available, we used data from Edmundsand Cars.com, a Web site that provides auto advice. We sifted throughincentives offered on thousands of 2008 and 2009 models and thenselected vehicles with a high ratio between the amount of cash offeredand the vehicle's MSRP. A cautionary word: Incentive programs vary byregion and state, and many expire quickly.

Dealerincentives from manufacturers to dealerships reduce a dealer's cost ofbuying the car from the factory and are offered on a regional basis togenerate sales on specific models. Customer incentives involvecash-back rebates, low-interest financing or other perks offereddirectly to buyers.

According to early reports, the iPod Touch was a hot seller over the holidays. At the same time, sales of the mighty iPhone have been slowing in some places. Is there a connection between the two?

BusinessWeek says the Touch’s good fortune is partly a matter of economics and partly its functionality. While the iPod Touch is priced from $229 to $399, it is more affordable than the iPhone, as consumers aren’t saddled with a pricey monthly phone plan.

Plus, with the growing number of games on Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )’s App Store, the iPod Touch is presenting buyers with an alternative to a Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ) DS or Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PSP.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Matt Murphy, who manages its $100 million iFund for App Store developers, told BusinessWeek that aside from the Touch becoming a “legitimate gaming platform,” young people are using it for social networking and other applications. He added that for some people, “it’s becoming a computer replacement.”

BusinessWeek also references a note from BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman that found Canadian telco Rogers Communications (nyse: RCI - news - people ) sold 130,000 iPhones in the December quarter, significantly lower than 235,000 in the previous quarter. We won’t know the latest iPhone sales numbers in the U.S. until AT&T (nyse: T - news - people )’s latest earnings are released in at the end of the month.

Another interesting datapoint on the rising popularity of the Touch comes from mobile ad network AdMob. Its has released December figures Thursday, and while our usual caveat that these figures are from only one vendor still stands, they show a jump in the number of ads it served up to iPod Touch users—from 86 million in November to 292 million in December. The requests doubled overnight on Christmas, and remained strong throughout the close of the month.