340 El Paso jobs lost: Hoover vacuum; call center to close

EL PASO – The Hoover vacuum manufacturing plant in West El Paso will close in March 2014 and Blood Systems Inc.’s call center in East El Paso will close in April 2014, resulting in the combined loss of 342 jobs.

The Hoover plant has been in operation for more than 25 years, and will leave about 200 people without jobs. The Hoover plant in Juarez is also closing in March 2014, putting about 700 people out of work.

Blood Systems Inc., which operates El Paso’s blood bank, is closing its seven-year-old call center, eliminating 102 permanent jobs and almost 40 temporary jobs.

In 2013, two call centers and two manufacturers, including the Hoover plant, laid off about 1,300 people.

The good news is that jobs have been created in 2014, which helped El Paso’s unemployment rate decrease to 7.8 percent in January. The state unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in January.