Those are just a few of the dozens of job reductions and layoffs announced by Wisconsin factories over the past couple of months. <

But some companies are starting to see a rebound, and experts say there are some positive signs for manufacturing nationwide. <

Lunde Foundry in Holmen, for instance, is back up to the 18 or so employees it had at its peak, in 2001. Just a year ago, the La Crosse-area foundry was down to a staff of three or four. <

"We lost a lot of brass work to China," president Joe Walter said. "Seventy percent of what we were doing dropped off to China; all the high (volume) production jobs went overseas." <

This past summer, though, the small foundry won a contract to make brass pieces for a decorative lighting company in California. "I think we just got lucky," Walter said. A similar contract for aluminum work apparently went to a bidder in Mexico. <

Nationwide, experts say a few positive signs are beginning to emerge. And the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis says even though "the carnage of the manufacturing recession lies far and wide" throughout the Upper Midwest, manufacturing is not a dying industry. <

In fact, a November report by the Fed says "U.S. manufacturing is still a world power and will continue to be so in the future" - as long as it pursues strategies to remain competitive. <

Two government reports last week showed improvement in the nation's manufacturing industry. Orders to U.S. factories rose 0.5 percent in September, after a 0.3 percent dip in August, the Commerce Department said. Meanwhile, manufacturing in October showed its highest level of activity in nearly four years, according to the Institute for Supply Management in Tempe, Ariz. <

Overall, the nation's economy perked up sharply in the third quarter with a 7.2 percent annual growth rate, the fastest pace in nearly 20 years. The signs show "a rebounding economy and recovering manufacturing," economist Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics in Cleveland, told the Associated Press. <

That has yet to develop in Wisconsin, though, for most manufacturers. <

"The view from employers around the state is that they seem to be having a very difficult time, particularly with international trade," said Terry Ludeman, state Department of Workforce Development chief of local work force planning. "A lot of them have told us that they're fighting for survival right now." <

For the first nine months of 2003, the state has received plant closing or mass layoff notices from 74 manufacturing companies, compared to 106 for all of 2002. But more workers are affected this year 7,550 based on notices received through Sept. 30, a faster pace than the 8,545 jobs affected by notices from manufacturers during all of 2002. <

Wisconsin's unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in September, the latest month for which figures are available. <

Job losses seem to be tapering off, though. Initial unemployment claims are down slightly from the same period, a year ago. There were 44,861 claims over the last four weeks, a drop of 1,522 (3.3 percent) from the 46,383 filed a year ago, Ludeman said. <

But until last week, a smaller percentage of those seeking initial unemployment checks said they expect to return to their jobs. "We're still not, certainly, recovering and if anything, we're losing (jobs) in manufacturing still," Ludeman said. <

Nationwide, Labor Department figures released Friday showed the economy created 286,000 jobs from August through October, prompting economists to declare that the jobless recovery is over. <

"Unfortunately, manufacturing is a fly in the ointment," said Sung Won Sohn, senior vice president and chief economist for Wells Fargo Banks in Minneapolis, in a report. Manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs in October, the 37th consecutive month of declines in that sector, although the pace is slowing. <

In Wisconsin, since the industry enjoyed peak employment levels in 1999, factories around the state have eliminated about 80,000 jobs, according to figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. <

Most of those manufacturing jobs are not likely to return, even in good times, said Dale Hopkins, executive director of the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin. <

"It isn't something that the economy is going to open up and so the job is back," Hopkins said. "I think the job is gone in many of these cases." <

Ball Corp., for example, is quitting production of plastic bottles for water and soft drinks at its Watertown plant, cutting about 40 jobs. There are several reasons, said Scott McCarty, Ball Corp. spokesman in Broomfield, Colo., including excess capacity in the Midwest. <

"A key part of being successful is you have to be extremely efficient within your plants," he said. "Generally, you need large plants with very high volumes where you can produce a lot of containers with minimal fixed costs." <

The Watertown plant, part of a 2001 acquisition from Wis-Pak Plastics, is Ball's smallest, McCarty said. <

Competition from overseas is a big factor. Weyco Group said this fall it will close its Beaver Dam shoe factory - the Milwaukee company's last American factory - and move production of Nunn Bush and Stacy Adams men's dress shoes to India, eliminating 45 jobs. <

"It's just more cost-effective to make the shoes overseas," said John Wittkowske, Weyco's senior vice president and chief financial officer. "It's unfortunate but that's the reality." <

Low-cost overseas manufacturing has also affected PolyOne Corp, which will close its DeForest factory by the end of the year. The plant makes rubber compound components for the automotive industry, such as hoses, belts and door seals, and seals and gaskets for industrial clients. <

"Have our customers seen their business lost to China? Sure. Could I quantify that? No," said Dennis Cocco, vice president of investor relations and communications for the Cleveland company. <

"We make plastic and rubber part materials that go into things and if you're not making things here, you're making them some place else," he said. <

Some companies are starting to show improvement. Rockwell Automation, in a conference call last week with analysts, said it has seen a "broad-based pickup in orders and shipments" over the past two months, Reuters news reported. <

"I've got to say that this continues to feel like a true recovery," said Don Davis chairman and chief executive of the Milwaukee company. <

At General Motors' Janesville plant, production continues to hum. "We've been running almost maximum overtime since September 2002," spokeswoman Kelly Patten said. "Things are really strong now for the full-size SUV and for GM-Janesville." <

A Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank survey of manufacturers in the Upper Midwest, including western Wisconsin, showed more executives than not expected increased orders and production levels for the second half of 2003. <

"Overall, manufacturers (in the region) are optimistic about output, production and exports; however, they don't see employment increasing in the short term," said Toby Madden, regional economist with the Minneapolis Fed. <

That's not necessarily bad, though, Madden said. For one thing, factories are becoming more productive and that makes them more competitive in the marketplace. <

At the same time, ex-factory workers can be trained for other types of jobs that are in high demand, such as nursing or computer programming, where their salaries could be higher, he said. <

"Unemployment does distress people's lives," but if job shifts are made, society could be better off, in the long run, Madden said. <

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