recession

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Unemployment Hits 9.8%
 Unemployment Hits 9.8% 
Oct 2, 2009 7:51 AM CDT

Unemployment Hits 9.8%

Employers cut 263,000 jobs, more than expected

(Newser) - More evidence that jobs are bringing up the rear in the economic turnaround: Employers shed 263,000 jobs in September, more than August and far more than expected, raising the unemployment rate to 9.8%. Most of the job losses came in fields such as retail, construction, and manufacturing, notes...

Recession's Over, Need for More Stimulus Isn't

Job market needs big improvements now to avoid a troubled future

(Newser) - The recession may technically be over but that's no reason for policymakers to start hanging up "Mission Accomplished" banners, writes Paul Krugman. Getting complacent about the state of the economy will result in a vast amount of human misery, he says, because the job market is still terrible and...

IMF: Global Recession Is Over
 IMF: Global Recession Is Over 
Oct 1, 2009 5:37 AM CDT

IMF: Global Recession Is Over

World economy is growing, but recovery will be slow

(Newser) - The global recession is over, the International Monetary Fund said today, revising its economic forecasts in response to Asian growth and more than $2 trillion in stimulus packages worldwide. The IMF now says the world economy is growing and will expand by 3.1% in 2010, with China growing at...

'Billionaire Bloodbath' Costs America's Super-Rich $300B

Mere multi-millionaires make it into Forbes 400 as slowdown shrinks fortunes

(Newser) - America's 400 richest people became a whole lot poorer over the last 12 months, according to the latest Forbes list. Their total wealth fell by a whopping $300 billion to a total $1.27 trillion, with 314 of the 400 experiencing a fall in fortunes. A Forbes editor described the...

Don't Hate Me: I'm Just Here to Clean Up
 Don't Hate Me: 
 I'm Just Here 
 to Clean Up 
FORECLOSURE FRONTLINES
Sep 30, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

Don't Hate Me: I'm Just Here to Clean Up

Clearing the detritus of owners' dreams from bank-owned homes

(Newser) - Cindy Reid doesn’t want you to think she and her boss—and boyfriend—are the “bad guys.” But it is difficult when her man is the one “you never want to see pull up to your house. He has eyes that go flat when you offer ...

US Poverty Rate Hits 11-Year High

First figures since recession reveal decline in incomes

(Newser) - The share of Americans living in poverty soared to 13.2% last year, its highest level since 1997, according to new census data. Median household income also fell, to $50,303 from $52,163 the previous year. Latinos have suffered the most from the recession. Their median income dropped by...

'Cupcakists' Find Happiness in a Simple Pastry

Cultural movement extols the virtues of butter and frosting

(Newser) - Johnny Cupcakes operates stores that sell cupcake-themed merchandise—shirts and stickers bearing a skull-and-crossbones logo with a cupcake instead of a skull—but not cupcakes. Johnny Cupcakes sells the idea of cupcakes, a symbol of an uncomplicated, untouchable childhood pleasure, safe from the stresses of adult life, writes Jennie Yabroff....

Most Americans Favor 'Soak the Rich' Tax
Most Americans Favor 'Soak
the Rich' Tax
NEW POLL
Sep 28, 2009 5:47 AM CDT

Most Americans Favor 'Soak the Rich' Tax

Populism is in, and half think Wal-Mart best symbolizes America

(Newser) - As if tea parties weren't screamingly pointing to its existence, there lurks a deep vein of populism in recessionary America, and a wide-ranging Vanity Fair/60 Minutes poll ran into it. Some 48% of respondents chose Wal-Mart, though the mag notes an element of cynicism, as the firm that 'best symbolizes...

In Tough Times, Families Reselling Burial Plots

Cemeteries report brisk sales of late

(Newser) - People struggling with bills and other earthly concerns are unloading burial plots at a fast clip. One Florida cemetery made as many “buybacks” in the first half of this year as in all of 2008, another in Ohio reports a similar spike, and ads are plentiful on funeral property...

CityCenter: Las Vegas' $8.5B Stimulus Bet

Hotel-casino-condo-shopping behemoth brings 12K jobs, optimism to battered state

(Newser) - A gigantic addition to the Las Vegas Strip is a one-stop stimulus package for a city and state walloped by the recession and an $8.5 billion bet that happy days are near again. With 12,000 jobs, the CityCenter project—a kaleidoscope of condominiums, boutique hotels, shopping, and, of...

Fed Holds Rates Steady, Says Economy 'Picked Up'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today decided as expected to hold a key bank lending rate at a record low near zero and pledged to keep rates there "for an extended period." The Fed also declared that "economic activity has picked up following its severe downturn" and said it...

Business Is Booming on Appalachian Trail

In echoes of Depression-era hobos, hikers subsist on bartered farm labor

(Newser) - The Appalachian Trail has been packed this year, as the unemployed wait out the bad economy by hiking almost 2,200 miles between Maine and Georgia—and often pay for the journey by working as they go, the Wall Street Journal reports. The trail offers a subsistence lifestyle—hikers budget...

Cost-Cutting Companies Target No. 2 Execs

Corporations eliminate second-in-command roles to save on costs

(Newser) - Cost-cutting at American's largest corporations is hitting the executive suite, with CEOs rolling up their sleeves to take on more day-to-day responsibilities and laying off their No. 2s. In the 18 months leading up to June 2009, 40 major companies eliminated COOs or presidents, the Wall Street Journal notes, while...

Japan Loses Its Taste for Luxury

From food to handbags, high-cost items are suffering

(Newser) - Hundred-dollar melons and pricey designer handbags used to sell so well in Japan that companies considered luxury goods a mass-market sector. But while the Japanese kept on shopping through previous recessions, this one has produced a sea change. The luxury industry has been hard hit, and the change may be...

Don't Let the Recession Rule Out Retirement

Save more, use 'catch-up' tax law provisions to turn things around

(Newser) - Retirement savers have been facing grim truths, like the fact that a 50% portfolio loss requires 100% in earnings to recover. But middle-of-the-road investors could recover in as little as 2 years if they make contributions, receive a company match, and see fair long-term portfolio returns, writes Linda Stern in...

New Recession Villain: Warren Buffett's Cell Phone

Oracle of Omaha missed message that may have saved Lehman Brothers

(Newser) - If Warren Buffett knew how to use his cell phone, the financial world might be in better shape, blogs Karen Tumulty of Time. Just before Lehman Brothers collapsed last year, a Barclays executive attempting to rescue the firm with an assist from Buffett left a message on the Oracle of...

NYC Unemployment Hits 10.3%
 NYC Unemployment Hits 10.3% 
Sep 18, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

NYC Unemployment Hits 10.3%

City given grant to help laid-off Wall Street workers retrain

(Newser) - The Big Apple's unemployment rate hit double digits last month for the first time since 1993, the New York Times reports. At 10.3%, the rate is now higher than the national rate of 9.7%. State officials say continuing layoffs on Wall Street are to blame for the rise,...

Supermarkets Slash Prices

 Supermarkets Slash Prices 
 
Sep 17, 2009 7:32 AM CDT

Supermarkets Slash Prices

Deflation stalks the aisles; Safeway cuts below profit point

(Newser) - Americans are getting a big break on the price of food, as the recession drives down the cost of wheat, milk, and other staples, and supermarkets fight feverishly for sales. After a year of dramatic increases, commodities are way down—the price of corn, for instance, is down 56% since...

Recession Crushes White-Collar Michigan

Layoffs, property price plunge leaves middle-aged workers in limbo

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of middle-aged white-collar workers have been left jobless and stranded in Michigan by the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto industry veterans laid off by the Big Three are finding themselves competing against against younger people for a smattering of job openings. With property prices down...

Euro Farmers Protest Falling Prices With Huge Milk Dump

800,000 gallons in Belgian field after recession takes big toll

(Newser) - European farmers today dumped 800,000 gallons of milk in a Belgian field, AFP reports, in a protest against a dramatic dive in prices. The group behind the scene says three French farmers committed suicide in the past week over prices, which have fallen by as much as half as...

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