Squeezed Parents Dump Daycare

(NEWSER) - If you’re the glass-half-full type, recent economic indicators look good: Unemployment fell last month, the savings rate is up, and productivity hit a 6-year high. But that same data proves that ordinary people aren’t likely to feel the good vibrations anytime soon, the Washington Post reports. “It's going to be a recovery only a statistician can love,” said a Wells Fargo economist. More»

Colin Powell 'concerned' by Obama's spending

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden conceded today that the Obama administration “misread” how bad the economy actually was and that now the unemployment rate is “much too high,” The Hill reports. In an interview taped in Iraq with This Week, the vice president also said the US doesn’t intend to slow its withdrawal plans from Iraq even if violence surges after American forces leave. More»

But continuing claims at record high for 8th straight week

(AP) - New jobless claims fell more than expected last week, but continuing claims set a new record for the eighth straight week and few economists expect the labor market to improve anytime soon. The Labor Department says the tally of initial requests for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 646,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 658,000. That was better than analysts' expectations. More»

1% drop greater than forecast; 6 straight months of decline

(NEWSER) - Consumer spending fell in December to finish off its worst year since 1961, Bloomberg reports. Purchases fell 1%, topping analyst estimates of a 0.9% decline. It was the record sixth consecutive month spending has fallen, and that streak may get longer, one economist predicted. Thanks to nearly 2.6 million job losses last year, he says, “further declines are likely in coming quarters.” More»

Did you ever suspect they'd go down? Me either

(AP) - The number of new claims for jobless benefits jumped more than expected last week, as companies continue to cut jobs at a furious pace. The Labor Department reported today that initial claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 589,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 527,000 the previous week. The tally was well above Wall Street economists' expectations of 540,000 new claims. More»