Shoppers Go Whole Hog for Piggy Banks

Columbus, Indiana, and Casper, Wyoming top employment list

(NEWSER) - Recession—that's a big-city thing, right? Several mid-size cities around the US are making an argument for their economic superiority, boasting job growth higher than the 1.5% national average in 2011. You may not know these cities well, but the Christian Science Monitor recommends them:

1. Columbus, Indiana: No, not Ohio's Columbus: Indiana's version had 10% growth from 2009 to 2010, making it the best economic rebounder during the Great Recession. Jobs are up 6.4%.

Economists, builders, mortgage analysts fear 'lost decade'

(NEWSER) - Even more bad economic news from a report released today: Housing prices will remain depressed for years, dropping by an expected 2.5% this year and rising only 1.1% each year through 2015, according to the survey of more than 100 economists. Since the 2005 peak, housing prices have dropped 31.6%, so if this forecast plays out, prices will recover little of what has been lost—leading to what the Wall Street Journal calls a “lost decade.” In order to get the housing market back on its feet, the economy needs to add jobs, but that’s a difficult prospect when the economy, in turn, needs a job boost housing would typically provide. More»

And Fed can't do much to stop it, say experts

(NEWSER) - Economists are citing a one-in-three chance of a new recession—the highest likelihood given in the Wall Street Journal ’s regular survey since the recovery began. The figure is 4 percentage points higher than last month’s as joblessness, a troubled stock market, and fears for Europe continue. “It feels like a recessionary environment. What they call it later on I can't tell you,” one expert tells the Journal. His organization sees a 45% chance of a new recession. More»

Increasingly, 20somethings wait for their 'real' career

(NEWSER) - Stephanie Kelly graduated in 2009 with a degree in advertising; instead she works as a part-time secretary and writes freelance for an online “Secret Santa Organizer.” Amy Klein has a degree in English lit from Harvard, but the 2007 grad has been touring the country in a minivan as part of a punk rock band. Stephanie Morales graduated from Dartmouth and ended up waiting tables for $2.17 per hour. They’re part of the group of highly-educated 20-somethings with dead-end jobs that the New York Times calls “Generation Limbo,” and not all of them are unhappy with where they are in life: “I can cook and write at my own pace,” says Kelly. “I’m fulfilling my artistic goals,” says Klein. More»

Risk of recession at 26%; unemployment likely 9% at year's end

(NEWSER) - Despite a bombardment of bad news in recent weeks, economists don’t expect another recession over the next 12 months—but economic growth will barely be perceptible in that period, an AP poll of top economists finds. They expect high unemployment and weak consumer spending to dog the US into next year. Overall, the outlook is poorer than it was in June: That month, the 43 economists surveyed saw a 15% chance of double-dip recession; now, they report a 26% chance. More»