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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: economic indicators

economic indicators stories: 41 news summaries

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Economy Grows in Q3, Signals End of Recession

Tenuous 3.5% growth is best showing in two years

Oct 29, 09 7:55 AM CDT
(AP) - The economy grew at a 3.5% pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. The Commerce Department's report today delivered the strongest signal yet that the economy entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the... More »

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economic growth • economic indicators • recession • economy • financial crisis

(Newser) - The US lost 216,000 jobs last month, driving unemployment to 9.7%, its highest level since 1983, the Wall Street Journal reports. The silver lining is that job losses have slowed; payrolls dropped a revised 276,000 in July, and earlier months saw losses of as many as... More »

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economic indicators • unemployment • Department of Labor • payrolls

COMMENTARY

Pinched Writer Picks Up
the Toilet Brush 


Aug 17, 09 1:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even with two degrees and a book deal, Rebecca Golden has had a tough time keeping her bank balance above zero, she writes for Salon, so she's turned to an edifying, if often terrifying, sideline: cleaning houses. “I suppose I could find other ways to make ends meet,”... More »

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economic indicators • recession • bathroom • toilet • cleaning • part-time jobs • economic downturn • recession depression • maid

Analysis

Economy Is Only
Recovering on Paper


Aug 12, 09 9:03 AM CDT
(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. “... More »

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economic indicators • recession • unemployment • productivity • economy • financial crisis • recession depression

(Newser) - The US economy contracted in the second quarter, but it was a mild decline that beat analyst estimates, Bloomberg reports. GDP fell 1%, less than the 1.5% economists predicted, and a heck of a lot less than the 6.4% and 5.4% drops seen in the two... More »

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economic indicators • consumer spending • GDP • economy

(Newser) - New home sales jumped 11% in June, the biggest gain in eight years, the Commerce Department announced today, as the supply fell to its lowest level in more than a decade. With mortgage rates and prices staggeringly low—the median home price fell 12%—buyers came out of the woodwork.... More »

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real estate • housing market • economic indicators • home sales • mortgage rates • interest rate • home prices • new home sales

Major Companies Believe
a Rebound Cometh

Firms split on whether the bottom has been reached

Apr 22, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some major companies are slowly becoming optimistic about the economy again, the Wall Street Journal reports. Delta Airlines says seat sales are almost at the level they were a year ago and United Technologies says its decline in orders is stabilizing. Intel is among the most upbeat, saying "the... More »

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economic indicators • recession • US economy • retail sales • quarterly results

Men's Skivvy Sales Spell
More Trouble

Stimulus package or not, underwear metric indicates downturn

Apr 9, 09 9:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - More bad news, this time from the men’s underwear department. One of former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan’s favorite metrics for predicting changes in consumer spending was the sales of men’s skivvies, the Huffington Post reports. It seems that sales are projected to decline 2.3% this year,... More »

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economic indicators • Alan Greenspan • consumer spending • underwear • boxers • economic downturn • men's underwear

OPINION

 This Rally May Be the Real Deal 

Positive indicators, better policy, historical benchmarks; the time is right for a bottom

Mar 26, 09 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The tentative rally on Wall Street is reason enough for one economist to feel hopeful: "I’m ready to take another shot at calling the bottom," writes Michael Mandel in BusinessWeek. Since (apparently) bottoming out March 9, stocks have risen 20%, and the reasons behind the climb... More »

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stock market • Federal Reserve • durable goods • economic indicators • US-China trade deficit • financial markets • trade deficit • unemployment • Treasury Department • financial crisis

 Unemployment Leaps to 8.1% 


Mar 6, 09 7:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Unemployment hit 8.1% in February, its highest level since late 1983, as employers cut 651,000 jobs, the government said today. That’s worse than the 7.9% analysts predicted, thanks to revised numbers from January and December that were much worse than originally reported. December’s revised loss... More »

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economic indicators • unemployment • payrolls • jobless claims • economy

 GDP Drop Worst in 26 Years 

Worse than anticipated

Feb 27, 09 8:09 AM CST
(AP) - The US economy contracted at a staggering 6.2% pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in more than a quarter-century, as consumers and businesses ratcheted back spending, plunging the country deeper into recession. That's drastically worse than the 3.8% the government originally estimated, and the 5.... More »

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economic indicators • recession • consumer spending • GDP • Department of Commerce • economy • recession depression

US Consumer Spending Falls Yet Again

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

Feb 2, 09 9:06 AM CST
(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... More »

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economic indicators • consumer confidence • unemployment • consumer spending • economy • financial crisis

New Jobless Claims Leap Past Estimates

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

Jan 22, 09 8:09 AM CST
(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.... More »

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economic indicators • unemployment • Department of Labor • jobless claims • economy • financial crisis

Analysis

US Economy Isn't as Bad
as 1982 ... Just Yet

But downturn will definitely get worse, and only big stimulus will limit its depth

Jan 21, 09 10:29 AM CST
(Newser) - We’ve heard a lot lately about how this recession is the worst since the 1980s, or even since the Great Depression, so David Leonhardt, in the New York Times, tries to get some perspective. Using jobs data as his main metric, Leonhardt finds things aren’t nearly as bad... More »

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economic indicators • recession • unemployment • financial crisis • underemployment


 Retail Sales Take 
 Steep Plunge 

Fall twice as far as anticipated

Jan 14, 09 8:38 AM CST
(Newser) - Retail sales fell more than twice as much as analysts predicted in December, thanks to mounting job losses and reduced credit, Bloomberg reports. Sales fell 2.7%, extending the longest string of declines on record to 6 consecutive months. Purchases excluding automobiles slid 3.1%. “Consumers are pulling back,... More »

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economic indicators • recession • consumer spending • retail sales • economy • financial crisis

Economy

 US Lost 
 Half-Million 
 Jobs in Nov. 

Biggest drop in 34 years

Dec 5, 08 8:24 AM CST
(Newser) - November saw 553,000 Americans lose their jobs, according to a Labor Department non-farm payrolls report, the steepest drop in 34 years. The number exceeded even the grimmest predictions in Bloomberg’s survey of 73 analysts. “The labor market capsized in November,” said one economist. “The financial... More »

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economic indicators • unemployment • Department of Labor • payrolls • jobless claims • economy

US Already a Year Into Recession: Economists

Non-traditional measurement based on employment, other statistics

Dec 1, 08 12:51 PM CST
(Newser) - The US economy has been in a recession since employment peaked in December 2007, a committee of economists declared today. However, MarketWatch notes, the private National Bureau of Economic Research rejects the traditional metric that recession is defined as consecutive quarters of GDP decline, opting instead to look at four... More »

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economic indicators • employment • recession • GDP • economy

Consumer Prices Dive 1%, Biggest Drop in 61 Years

Oil's record decline leads to 1% overall drop

Nov 19, 08 9:07 AM CST
(AP) - Consumer prices in the United States plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline prices dropped by a record amount. The Labor Department said today that consumer prices fell by 1% last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February... More »

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economic indicators • core inflation • gas prices • consumer prices • economy

MARKET Open

 Unemployment Hits 14-Year 
 High; Stocks Flat 

To be fair, they've already had the worst two-day stretch since 1987

Nov 7, 08 8:54 AM CST
(Newser) - The economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, bringing unemployment to 6.5%, its highest rate since 1994. It was the 10th-straight negative month, bringing the year’s losses to 1.2 million. But the staggering report did little to move the needle on Wall Street, as the Dow actually... More »

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stock market • Dow Jones • economic indicators • unemployment • Nasdaq • jobless claims • S&P 500 • economy

MARKETS

 Dow Surges Despite GDP Dip 

Drop isn't as bad as feared, and rate cuts abroad cheer US traders

Oct 30, 08 9:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stocks jumped at the opening bell, as international rallies helped offset a shrinking US economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gross domestic product shrank at a seasonally adjusted 0.3% annual rate from July to September; the not-as-bad-as-feared figure sent the Dow up 201 points at the open before dipping... More »

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stock market • Dow Jones • economic indicators • Nasdaq • GDP • S&P 500 • economy • US gross domestic product • financial crisis

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