recession depression – News Stories About recession depression - Page 2

Nov 27, 2011 10:04 AM CST

America's Worst Job-Hunting Cities

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...

Brits Killing
Pets for
Insurance
Money

Nov 14, 2011 1:00 PM CST

Brits Killing Pets for Insurance Money

Association of British Insurers pegs 2010 insurance fraud at $3M

(Newser) - How bad is the economy? Some people are trying to make a buck by killing their pets to rake in the insurance money, says the Association of British Insurers. In a detail that doesn't really do much to restore one's faith in humanity, the insurers note that some...

Now Is an Awful Time to Be
a Young Man in America

Now Is an Awful Time to Be a Young Man in America

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...

Ranks of
Poorest Poor
Swell to New High

Nov 3, 2011 7:53 AM CDT

Ranks of Poorest Poor Swell to New High

One in 15 live below half the poverty level

(Newser) - We've got the top 1% , the 99% , and the 53% , but the poorest of the nation's poor has hit a new high: 6.7% of Americans now fall below half of the federal poverty line, reports the AP . That means about 20.5 million Americans, or one in...

15% of Americans
Use Food Stamps

RECORD high: 45.8M

Nov 2, 2011 10:52 AM CDT

15% of Americans Use Food Stamps

Mississippi leads the way, with 21% of residents on the rolls

(Newser) - A record 45.8 million people—that's a staggering 15% of Americans—sustained themselves via food stamps in August, reports the Wall Street Journal . That number was up 1.1% over July, notes Business Week , and 8.1% over the year prior. In terms of sheer numbers, Texas and...

Deficit Panel Floundering

5 weeks til deadline

Oct 19, 2011 7:40 AM CDT

Deficit Panel Floundering

Party leaders may have to light a rocket under 'supercommittee'

(Newser) - The bipartisan panel tasked with finding ways to cut more than $1 trillion from the federal deficit is only five weeks away from its Nov. 23 deadline, and you might not be flabbergasted to learn that it is having trouble reaching an agreement—or even agreeing on basic starting positions....

Walmart's Layaway Plan Preys on the Desperate

OPINION

Oct 12, 2011 1:14 PM CDT

Walmart's Layaway Plan Preys on the Desperate

Consumers are reeling from the loss of easy credit

(Newser) - Good news everybody: Layaway is back! Walmart recently announced that it was bringing back its program, allowing customers to hold items for two months for a mere $5 fee. That may sound like a swell deal for Americans who can’t get credit, writes Louis Hyman in the New York ...

Harrisburg, Pa.,
Declares Bankruptcy

Oct 12, 2011 9:12 AM CDT

Harrisburg, Pa., Declares Bankruptcy

Filing means capital will lose state aid

(Newser) - The capital of Pennsylvania filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last night, defying a new state law created to prohibit it from doing so. The Harrisburg city council voted 4-3 to take the drastic step, with supporters arguing that the state’s proposed recovery plan was unacceptable, Bloomberg reports. “...

Topeka Decriminalizes
Domestic Violence

Oct 12, 2011 7:50 AM CDT

Topeka Decriminalizes Domestic Violence

City says it can't afford prosecutions

(Newser) - Domestic abuse suspects are walking free in northeast Kansas because different arms of government can't agree on who should pay for their prosecution. Last night, Topeka's city council took the startling step of repealing the local law that makes domestic violence a crime, the New York Times reports....

Nostalgia Goes Belly-Up: Friendly's Files Chapter 11

Oct 5, 2011 1:32 PM CDT

Nostalgia Goes Belly-Up: Friendly's Files Chapter 11

Ice cream chain's model 'is no longer viable,' says expert

(Newser) - You may have let out a nostalgic, "Awwww" when you heard the news that ice cream chain Friendly's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. "Oh, that's so sad. I love Friendly's," says one mother whose kids enjoy the same Fribble concoctions she...

Drunk Driving
Down Due to...
the Economy?

survey says

Oct 5, 2011 11:18 AM CDT

Drunk Driving Down Due to... the Economy?

More people may be drinking at home: CDC

(Newser) - The good news: According to self-reported data, Americans are driving drunk less often. The bad news: It may not be because we're more responsible, but because ... we're broke. The CDC data shows that self-reported drunk driving among adults was down 30% from 161 million instances in 2006 to...

In Amazon's Warehouse, Shades of Grapes of Wrath

Ezra Klein

Sep 29, 2011 1:00 PM CDT

In Amazon's Warehouse, Shades of Grapes of Wrath

LeHigh warehouse like something out of Grapes of Wrath , Ezra Klein observes

(Newser) - In the Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family gets a hard lesson in economics, when they follow a handbill for jobs to California—only to find there are no jobs. Why, he asks, did they put out the handbills? A fellow homeless man replies that if you’ve but one...

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015

new report

Sep 21, 2011 11:07 AM CDT

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015

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...

One in 3 Falling Out
of Middle Class

Sep 7, 2011 7:28 AM CDT

One in 3 Falling Out of Middle Class

New study shows downward mobility is rampant

(Newser) - Downward mobility is rampant in the US, with a third of Americans who grew up in the middle class falling out of it as adults, according to a new Pew Study ( pdf ). “A middle-class upbringing does not guarantee the same status over the course of a lifetime,...

Meet 'Generation Limbo'

Sep 1, 2011 11:25 AM CDT

Meet 'Generation Limbo'

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...

CBO: 'Profound'
Challenges Ahead

Aug 24, 2011 10:46 AM CDT

CBO: 'Profound' Challenges Ahead

Deficit should fall, but employment, growth remain low

(Newser) - The picture for 2011 is a glum one—a $1.3 trillion deficit, 9.1% unemployment rate—and it's not going to get much brighter in the next few years, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. In it, notes Politico , the CBO warns of "profound...

4 Products Going
the Way of the Dodo

Aug 13, 2011 11:08 AM CDT

4 Products Going the Way of the Dodo

Bar soap, antiperspirant spray wane in popularity

(Newser) - Another casualty of the recession could be your favorite deodorant: As consumers flock toward store brands and stores in turn look to downsize, the result is the death of some of America's best-known consumer products, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. "As we shrink the size of stores, a number...

South Korean Broker
Jumps to Death
Over Losses

Aug 10, 2011 8:39 AM CDT

South Korean Broker Jumps to Death Over Losses

48-year-old sent text apologizing before killing himself

(Newser) - The global markets turmoil claims a victim: A South Korean stockbroker committed suicide today after apparently suffering heavy losses, reports the AP . The 48-year-old sent text messages to his colleagues apologizing to them and to his clients for the losses before jumping from his 18th-floor high-rise residence around 7am. The...

Crash May Have Been Worse Than Thought

nate silver

Aug 4, 2011 12:57 PM CDT

Crash May Have Been Worse Than Thought

Nate Silver sees bad things in long-term GDP graph

(Newser) - Need a pick-me-up given today's depressing stock news ? Then be advised that Nate Silver's column in the New York Times is not for you. The stats guru plots GDP going back to 1877 and sees signs that our recent "economic crash was even worse than economists...

Wealth Gap Between Whites, Minorities Widest in 25 Years

Jul 26, 2011 7:51 AM CDT

Wealth Gap Between Whites, Minorities Widest in 25 Years

Census data show ratio is 20 to 1 between whites, blacks

(Newser) - Thanks to the recession, the wealth gap between whites and minorities is at its widest level in 25 years. Census data show that the median wealth of white US households was $113,149 in 2009: That's 20 times that of black households ($5,677) and 18 times that of...