Economy Is Only Recovering on Paper

But most remain upbeat about their future: Pew survey

(NEWSER) - The economy is doing a number on those aged 18 to 34, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center :

• Half say they have taken a job they didn't want.
• More than a third have gone back to school because of the job market.
• Nearly a quarter have taken unpaid work to gain experience.
• About a quarter have moved back in with the folks.
• More than 1 in 5 have postponed having a baby, and about the same number have put off getting married.

It neared its post-recession peak this month

(NEWSER) - Are American shoppers at last stepping back from the ledge? The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index shot up 10 points in December to 64.5, the AP reports. That's its highest reading since April and closing in on its post-recession peak of 72, which was achieved in February. Consumers were somewhat more upbeat in their view of the economy, with that metric bumping from 38.3 to 46.7, and significantly more upbeat about their own prospects for the next six months, which rose from 66.4 to 76.4. More»

It was a surprise drop, notes Bloomberg

(NEWSER) - Unexpected visit from the in-laws: bad news. Unexpected drop in jobless claims: very good news. Though Bloomberg reports that economists anticipated that the number of Americans filing first-time jobless claims would hold steady around 390,000, it instead dropped by 19,000 last week, to 366,000. The last time it was that low? May 2008, a long-ago era when Jennifer Aniston was dating John Mayer and Newser thought "twittering" was an appropriate verb. Reuters notes that the number is approaching the 350,000 mark, one that analysts consider a sign of "more sustained improvement in the job market." Stocks rose on the news, notes Marketwatch . More»

Miami tops the latest list

(NEWSER) - Miami and LA might be beautiful places to live—but they’re really terrible places to find work. Those two cities top the list in a new Indeed.com analysis of the worst cities to find employment. Indeed, a job hunting site, compared federal unemployment records with its own job listings to arrive at this list, finding that in Miami there were more than four job seekers per listing, while LA had 3.48. More»

Some 14.4% of 25- to 34-year-olds jobless; many living at home

(NEWSER) - Few Americans were immune to the recession, but the plight of young men continues to be particularly dire. The unemployment rate for male high-school grads ages 25 to 34 is 14.4%, far above the 9% national average; the figure also marks a huge jump from the 6.1% jobless rate they faced before the downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Even worse off are high-school educated men ages 20 to 24, who suffer a whopping 22.5% jobless rate. More»