Recession Blues: More worrisome job loss news, and renowned East Bay children's hospice facility closes due to falling donations

Just the headline we all want to see, huh? But I knew that my husband was part of a disturbing trend in the East Bay, of companies shedding jobs. He was laid off this week; according to the state, another 4,500 people lost jobs in the East Bay in February.

"The job losses in the East Bay are pretty widespread," Jon Haveman, and aconomist and partner with Beacon economics told the Contra Costa Times. According to the Times, the thousands of positions lost marked the worst month for our region's job market since last September. 

In the Bay Area, a total of 6,700 jobs were cut. The next worst hit area in the Bay Area was San Francisco and the Peninsula. There were some bright spots. The South Bay gained about 100 jobs.

Most of the East Bay jobs lost were in government and construction.

Job woes and recession blues were a bit topic of discussion among parents at Walnut Creek Intermediate's sixth-grade skate night Thursday.  I ran into another parent, who had just been laid off this week as well. She works at George Mark Children's House in San Leandro, the Bay Area's only hospice for children.

The economic downturn and falling donations George Mark, a home-like setting in the San Leandro hills, to close and to lay off 52 of its some 60 staff. Managers say this isn't a permanent closure. They are just suspending  inpatient services for several months so they can look for new sources of funding and partnerships with other Bay Area hospices and health organizations.

(Photo here, from Robert Gauthier of the Los Angeles Times, shows certified nursing assistant, cradling a boy during a pool therapy session at George Mark.)