NTN Bearing Corporation of America (a division of NTN Corp., Japan; TSE: Tokyo:5251R9N7) is laying off 34 more workers from its NTN-Bower bearing plant in Macomb, Illinois.

For 2009 alone, this is the third round of layoffs at Macomb and the plant continues to operate far below capacity.

In June, 55 people were laid off, prior to a six week summer shutdown.

article: NTN-Bower cuts Macomb jobs again
Back in February, the company cut 49 positions -- 42 probationary hires and 7 full time.

article: NTN-Bower lays off 49
Macomb produces heavy-duty cylindrical and tapered roller bearings for trucks, forklifts and heavy industrial equipment. Major customers include Caterpillar, John Deere, and Dana. Layoffs are in response to the continued down market in those business segments.

Macomb was also the first plant to push NTN-Bower's focus and expand production beyond bearings to other high-value-added precision products that fit the same manufacturing framework as bearings.

At 300,000 square feet, Macomb was considered massive when it was built in 1966 by the Bower bearing division of Federal-Mogul Corp. In 1985, NTN joined as a joint venture with Federal-Mogul, buying out F-M's share in 1987. The plant has undergone many changes since then and now covers more than 750,000 square feet.

Also in 1987, NTN acquired Federal-Mogul's BCA Bearings division.

Ironically, the company has just announced the NTN-BCA bearing manufacturing plant in Lititz, Pennsylvania will close by March 2010, and production will be moving to Macomb.

article: NTN-BCA Lititz plant will be closed
NTN-Bower has long been Macomb's largest manufacturing employer. After this most recent round of layoffs, approximately 450 employees remain -- still a relatively high level for Macomb. There had been some hiring in 2008, but those positions were eliminated in the first round of cuts earlier this year.

In a statement, the company said: "As unemployment has continued to rise in the nation, the demand for products from our customers, such as Caterpillar, John Deere, and Dana Corp. has been reduced. This in turn reduced their requirements from NTN-Bower. We regret these actions are necessary, but the slumping markets dictate what we can produce."