Two things wrong with this headline

New Orleans CityBusiness features this headline: N.O. area shed 1,800 jobs over the year. I see two things wrong with this headline.

1. The subject, “area,” is singular, and should therefore take a singular verb. (The story talks about jobs being lost now. So the verb’s tense is presumably present, not past.)
2. More importantly, the verb should not be “shed.” That word implies that the 1,800 jobs were unnecessary or superfluous, which insults the 1,800 who lost their jobs. “Loses” would be a more appropriate (and a grammatically correct) verb.