Hanesbrands closes down it's manufacturing

Hanesbrands Inc. accelerated the pace of cuts to its apparel-manufacturing base in the United States today by announcing plans to close four plants in North Carolina. Nine plants will be closed overall. The plant closings will affect 8,100 employees worldwide, or about 16 percent of its work force, including 1,345 in North Carolina. The remaining 6,750 job cuts will affect five plants in Central America. The Winston-Salem apparel marketer has closed, or is closing, at least 29 plants worldwide since spinning off from Sara Lee Corp. in September 2006. That includes at least 10 in North Carolina. The biggest of the four North Carolinas plant affected in the latest round of cuts is a knit-fabric plant in Eden, where 600 jobs will be eliminated by late summer 2009. The Eden plant is the company's largest remaining knit-fabric plant in the U.S.. Another 120 jobs are being cut at an Eden yarn plant, which will close by year's end.