ORANGE COUNTY NEWS

More Aerospace Layoffs: Affected by a slowdown in orders during the recession, two Orange County aerospace firms have announced more worker layoffs. McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. is laying off about 100 employees in Huntington Beach as a result of a slowdown in production of MD-80 commercial airliners at a sister plant in Long Beach. The layoffs started this week and will be completed next week, a spokesman said Friday. Spokesman Tom Williams said Space Systems manufactured nose cones for the MD-80 under a subcontract. Douglas Aircraft Co. in Long Beach has laid off 5,500 employees over the past 10 weeks, and that has had a domino effect on the Space Systems unit. Separately, Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Interconnect Systems division in Irvine plans to lay off 30 of its 470 employees over the next few months, said spokesman Richard Dore. The division, which makes electronic connectors, is suffering from the recession, Dore said.