The announced plan includes closing 20 high-cost facilities, temporarily idling 180 plants, and eliminating 5,000 full-time jobs (about 11 percent of their work-force) and 6,000 contractor positions.

And the Big Three shut down 24 car and truck assembly plants this week, temporarily idling more than 62,000 workers because of a shortage of dealer orders.

TASI worked by switching additional users onto any channel temporarily idled because an original user has stopped speaking.

Texas Instruments plans to reduce costs through voluntary retirements, temporarily idling plants and imposing a freeze on new hiring.

But the only real advance was in the automobile industry, with an increase of 25,000 jobs, and that reflected returns to work of those temporarily idled by summer plant shutdowns.

The General Motors Corporation, fighting slumping car sales and loss of market share, will close six plants for a week, temporarily idling 21,600 workers, officials said.

A pickup in sales would be good news for the General Motors Corporation, which will close six plants next week, temporarily idling 18,000 workers, because of a glut of unsold cars.

Massena is home to an Alcoa plant, and a former Reynolds Metals Company plant, now called Alcoa East (temporarily idled in July 2009).

Then, Amtrak temporarily idled its Acela trains supplied by Bombardier and its partner, Alstom, after cracks were found in the suspension systems.

The nation's Big Three auto makers plan to shut 24 car and truck assembly plants this week, temporarily idling more than 62,000 workers because of a shortage of dealer orders, the companies said last week.