Last month it was rumored that the Associated Press may need to make hundreds of layoffs before the year's end. Now a tipster tells Gawker.com that some of those layoffs could be coming down today.

The source reveals that the word amongst AP union members is that today may be the day that "70 or 80" get laid off. While rumors indicate that the layoffs will be spread across the company nationally, New York staffers have supposedly been summoned to an "important meeting" this afternoon.

In the day and age where newspapers are cutting more staff by the day and relying more and more upon the AP and its writers to fill their pages and websites, cuts like these are indicative of just how bad of shape the print industry is in.

If you have any inside info or tips, as always, be sure to let us know by using the "contact" form on our site.

On Friday, the Labor Department revealed the latest jobs report and the picture was not pretty. Their broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment has reached its highest level in decades, and if their statistics went back so far, it would most certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

One out of every six workers, or 17.5%, were unemployed or underemployed in October 2009. The previous record high was set in December 1982 at 17.1%. WIthout an end in site to our economic woes, the figures could go even higher in the coming months.

That 17.5% figure includes the officiall unemployed, which are those who have looked for work in the last four weeks. It also includes discouraged workers who have looked in the past year, and millions of part-time workers wanting to be full-time.

The official jobless rate is at 10.2% for October, and remains lower than the early 80's peak at 10.8%. But again, this latest figure continues the upward trend, and isup from 9.8% in September 2009. It is highest in those states which had big housing bubles, such as Arizona and California, and those with large manufacturing sectors, including Ohio, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Oregon.

Since January, first-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 as part of an economic stimulus package put into place earlier this year. That program, which left those who are not first-time home buyers out in the cold, was set to expire at the end of November 2009. On Wednesday, the Senate voted to extend and expand the tax credit to include many buyers who already own homes. Now it just needs to get through Congress, where a vote will take place Thursday.

Buyers owning their current homes at least five years will be eligible for tax credits up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers or those who haven't owned a home in the last three years would get up to $8,000. Both groups would have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010 in order to be eligible.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), said, "This is probably the last extension."

Also included in the bill passed in the Senate is a plan to extend unemployment benefits for those without a job for more than a year, and a clause that would allow companies now losing money to recoup taxes paid on profits earned in the previous five years.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said:

On Monday morning the Audit Bureau of Circulations released the latest figures for the six months ending in September 2009, and they're not pretty. Circulation at many of the country's largest newspapers continued a downward slide. In Cleveland, The Plain Dealer experienced a 11.2 percent reduction in daily circulation and was down 4.9 percent for Sunday circulation.

Nationwide, of the 379 newspapers that file with the organization, the average daily circulation was down 10.6 percent at 30,395,652 and Sunday circulation for 562 reporting papers was down 7.4 percent at 40,012,253. This marks one of the most severe drops in overall circulation.

At the PD, daily circulation now stands at 217,180 daily and Sunday circulation is now at 390,636. According to Editor & Publisher, the PD is now No. 16 on the list of the country's top 25 newspapers according to daily circulation, just barely inching ahead of No. 17's Detroit Free Press.

It sounds like additional job cuts are more inevitable than ever.

Ever since the first cases of swine flu broke out earlier this year, demand for hand sanitizer has skyrocketed. Some makers of the gels are now scrambling to keep up with the demand.

The marketing research firm Panjiva recently estimated that 3 million kilograms of hand sanitizer were shipped in the 3rd quarter, compared to 1 million kilograms during the same quarter last year. Panjiva CEO Josh Green says that concerns over the H1N1 virus is the "most likely explanation" for the surge. Given the outlook for a particularly bad flu season, demand is only expected to rise further.

In response, companies like Purell are ramping up production and are urging customers not to hoard the product. Purell manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) says that demand for Purell has been "heavy" since the first swine flu cases were reported.

J&J spokesman Marc Boston said in a statement:

"Due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreak this past spring and resurgence this fall, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc. has experienced heavy demand on supplies of Purell.

Boston said that the company is working to increase production for the remainder of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, but acknowledges that supplies could be limited in some areas:

The worldwide recession has caused hard times for many businesses, however it has had little effect on their use of mobile data services. According to an update to ABI Research's Business Mobility Market Data, global mobile data services revenue are expected to increase by 17 percent in 2010, and through 2014, mobile data services revenues will grow at a Compound Annual Growth rate of 12 percent.

Revenues from mobile broadband are expected to be at their highest from 2010 to 2014 in North America, but the largest share of mobile broadband services revenue will go to mobile business customers in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where 2014 revenues will increase to 27 and 26 percent of total spending respectively.

The Asia Pacific area, application download revenues will see its greatest growth amongst mobile business customers The highest portion of average revenue per user spent for these applications will come from business customers in Western Europe and Asia Pacific.

ABI practice director Dan Shey said:

Cab drivers in the Windy City are asking for not only a rate hike, but are also demanding that riders who throw up in their vehicles get handed a $50 fee. On Thursday the cabbies said that they want the city to impose the penalty because of the extra work and hours lost that are a result of cleaning up a passenger's vomit.

Cabbies say that one vomit incident could result in the loss of nearly two hours of work due to the time it takes to scrape the vomit off the seats and floor.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said that his administration will listen to the drivers' request and review their recommendations.

General Motors is pulling out all the stops in an effort to restore consumer confidence in its products. Beginning Monday, GM will offer a 60-day money back guarantee on all of its vehicles.

This is GM's first major marketing campaign since emerging from the depths of bankrtuptcy. The ad campaign puts the company's new chairman, Edward E. Whitacre Jr. into focus as the spokesman for the offer to give a full refund within 60 days on any GM car or truck.

The campaign is called "May the Best Car Win", and is aimed to not only restore consumer confidence, but also change GM's image as a financially struggling company with lesser products. The first television ad featuring Whitacre and the new campaign will begin airing on Sunday.

A media report says that Whitacre is hoping to restore confidence in GM just as Iacocca did with Chrysler ads in the 1980s.

Speaking of the campaign, Whitacre said:

"I'm happy to do it, I wanted to do it, and I think it is important to do it,. I am convinced that our cars are as good, if not better, than anybody else's."

A California fertility company that boasts a roster of anonymous sperm donors bearing uncanny resemblences to a number of celebrities, is about to set up an East Coast shop in Manhattan. California Cryobank's Donor Look-a-Like service offers potential parents to find prospective donors based on which famous face they most closely resemble.

Not every donor looks like Brad Pitt, and the company's searchable database includes look-alikes of al shapes, sizes, and looks. There are look-alike donors bearing resemblances to Vinny Testaverde, Prince William, Tim Tebow, Steve O, Ian Zeiring, David Beckham, David Blaine, Many Ramirez, DJ AM, Paul Walker, Jeremy Shockey, Scott Caan, Ben Afflect, Luke Walton, and Brett Favre, amongst many others.

A representative suggests that their intention is not to suggest that any resulting child would look like one of the celebrities, but that is merely a way to personalize the donor. But hey, there's always the chance that they could pick up some of their traits, rightt?

California Cryobank will be fully operational within two months, giving those looking for sperm donors a West Coast and an East Coast location to find their celebrity look-alike donor.

Today, Apple sent out an invitation to members of the media, alerting them of a media event to be held on September 9. While the invites declined to provide any information on what products will be unveiled next week at t event, speculation is that Apple will reveal a refreshed line of iPods.

Apple has held media events in September regularly in recent years to show off new and refreshed iPod models for the holiday shopping season. In 2007 they launched the iPod Touch, and the iPod Nano in 2005. This year it is expected that they will launch updated Nanos and Touches with digital cameras. The Touch may also have a video camera say analysts.

Apple could also use the event to launch the much-rumored, but never confirmed tablet device. However, analysts do not anticipate the launch of this device until later this year or early next year.