Photograph by Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg

People fill gas cans at a Sunoco Inc. station in Bloomfield, New Jersey, after superstorm Sandy.

The strike that triggered the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands Inc., the baker of Twinkies and Wonder bread, is not showing up in government data, which means it will probably not depress U.S. November payrolls to be reported next week.

There were 1,300 workers on strike as of Nov. 12, unchanged from the same day last month, according to Labor Department data issued today in Washington. That means the government hasn’t take into account the roughly 5,000 members of the Bakery,Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers International Union who walked off their jobs at Irving, Texas-based Hostess on Nov. 9 after a bankruptcy judge imposed contract concessions that 92 percent of the union’s workers rejected.

The Labor Department subtracts striking employees from the monthly payroll readings and adds them back once the disputes are resolved and they return to work. Today’s report indicates that won’t be the case this time. It remains to be seen if the December payroll count will be affected as Hostess won court approval to shut down and start selling assets.

The 82-year-old company, which also made Hostess CupCakes, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Drake’s Devil Dogs, began firing 15,000 workers on Nov. 22, temporarily keeping about 3,200 of its remaining employees to clean plants and mothball equipment.

The Labor Department’s payroll totals reflect employees who receive wages for the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. That means those let go in subsequent weeks will not show up until the December totals are issued in January. The November reading comes out on Dec. 7.

The damage to the labor market caused by superstorm Sandy will dwarf anything wrought by Hostess. The job losses caused by the largest Atlantic storm to hit the U.S. may cut November payrolls by about 150,000 workers, according to estimates by economists at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and UBS Securities LLC based on comparisons with the damage done by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Joseph LaVorgna, the New York-based chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, currently forecasts that companies hired 35,000 additional workers in November, the smallest gain in private payrolls since the post-recession job slump ended in February 2010. Employment excluding government agencies grew by 184,000 workers in October, the most in eight months.

There will be additional storm-related weakness in December, LaVorgna said in a Nov. 26 research report.  “Fortunately, history also suggests that job growth should meaningfully recover within a couple of months,” LaVorgna wrote.

Original post is Payrolls Unscathed by Ho Ho Strike — Superstorm Sandy Another Matter by Political Capital.

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, said it will fire more than 18,000 workers and liquidate. Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie prides himself on his ability to go off script. But when reporters asked him about the possible closure of a Hostess factory in Wayne, New Jersey, he took a different tack: get ‘em laughing.

When a reporter from CBS 880 AM asked him about the company’s impending bankruptcy, Christie said he couldn’t hear. When pressed about “the company that makes Twinkies,” Christie said he strategically didn’t want to even say the word, referring to Americas favorite cream-filled sponge cake.

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, said it will fire more than 18,000 workers and liquidate after a nationwide strike by bakery workers crippled operations. A facility in Wayne, a northern New Jersey suburb, employs 300 people in the Garden State.

“I’m on Saturday Night Live enough,” Christie said. “You think you’re going to get me to talk about Twinkies? This is a setup, man. A setup. I’m not answering questions about Twinkies.”

The crowd, which included American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, as well as local and state politicians, erupted in a minuteslong round of laughter that drowned out Christie.

“I am not answering questions on Twinkies,” he said. “It’s bad I even said the word Twinkies.”

In recent episodes, the long-running comedy show has lampooned Christie’s performance following the superstorm Sandy that devastated his state Oct. 29. In October, the show’s trademark opening skit highlighted Christie’s role in presidential politics and the Republican Party’s inability to unite behind Mitt Romney.

Original post is What Christie Isn’t Saying: ‘Twinkies’ by Political Capital.

Loaves of Wonder Bread at the Hostess Brand Inc. bakery in Sacramento, California. Photograph by Ken James/Bloomberg

The Pentagon may need to find another vendor to satisfy its sweet tooth.

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies that has said it will fire more than 18,000 workers and liquidate after a strike crippled operations, has won about $169 million in U.S. government contracts since fiscal year 2000.

Almost 90 percent of that business was with the Pentagon.

In 2011, Hostess won about $15.4 million in federal awards, mainly with the Defense Commissary Agency, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The amount marked a 34 percent decline from a peak of $23.2 million in 2006.

Chief Executive Officer Gregory F. Rayburn says Hostess will dismiss most of its 18,500 employees and focus on selling assets. Shipments of bread, snack cakes and other products will continue until supplies run out, he says.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike Nov. 9 after a bankruptcy judge in White Plains, New York, imposed contract concessions that 92 percent of the union’s workers rejected.

Original post is Pentagon Twinkies Supply Route Cut by Political Capital.