Lots of layoffs

There's still another week to go before October's employment report comes out (three more weeks for the local data), but you really don't need the government to tell you that times are tough and getting tougher. Just today comes word that Motorola will lay off 3,000 workers (two-thirds from the cell phone division), while American Express will eliminate 7,000 jobs (about 10 percent of the workforce). Then there are the automakers, the publishers (LAT, Time, OC Register, etc.) and even the tech companies. This has been an especially gruesome week - and it's only Thursday.