America's Fastest-Dying Cities

Clinton, Obama look to score points bashing trade pact

(NEWSER) - As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle for votes in Ohio, each pushes a simple theme: NAFTA is bad. Ohio has been hit hard by free trade, which is why Obama reminds voters that Bill Clinton backed NAFTA. And both hopefuls have mined each other's comments for anything that favors global trade, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

Forbes list includes Memphis, Stockton, Detroit, and Miami

(NEWSER) - Forbes is out with its list of the "most miserable cities" in the US, based on a host of factors including unemployment, violence, weather, taxes, corruption, and sports teams. New York City made the list at No. 16, thanks its commute times and taxes. The top 10 honorees:

1. Cleveland
2. Stockton, Calif.
3. Memphis
4. Detroit
5. Flint, Mich.

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 45% from their 2006 peak, people are unable or unwilling to sell their homes and seek work elsewhere. More»

(AP) - In the wake of this morning's bankruptcy filing, GM will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others to trim production and labor costs, the AP reports. Assembly plants in Pontiac, Mich., and Wilmington, Del., will close this year; plants in Spring Hill, Tenn., and Orion, Mich., will shut down production but remain on standby. More»

Bailout collapse leaves state fretting over future

(NEWSER) - Detroit's bailout has crashed and burned, casting a pall on Michigan's future, the Detroit Free Press writes. The state knows the pain that comes with tough times in the auto industry all too well, and it's "incredible" that any American lawmaker "could want to watch these hard times turn so much harder for so many people," notes a Press editorial. More»