Stories related to: recession

Delta Air Lines has reached a deal with its 7,000 pilots that is expected to allow a long-delayed merger with Northwest Airlines to take off, Bloomberg reports. The airlines plan to announce the merger next week, sources said. The new airline would carry the Delta name and jet past American Airlines to become the world's largest carrier. More »

The Bank of England today cut its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 5%, reports Bloomberg, hoping to keep the nation’s economy out of recession. Despite the third cut since December, BoE’s rate remains the highest among the Group of Seven industrialized nations; policymakers have drawn fire for being “behind the curve” in responding to the credit crisis. More »

Congressional Democrats thumbed their noses today at Bush's renewed efforts to pass a free-trade pact with Colombia. Bush sent the bill over Monday, mandating Congress to vote yea or nay within 90 days. Or so he thought. Nancy Pelosi is changing the House rules and won't allow a vote until the White House attends to more pressing domestic issues, the New York Times reports. More »

The International Monetary Fund says world economic growth will slow drastically in the next two years. In its new report, the IMF states that the world downturn will be led by the US, which will slip into a "mild recession" this year, the BBC notes. The report calls the current crisis "the largest financial shock since the Great Depression." More »

Slowing sales, rising inflation, and skyrocketing energy costs have small-business owners cutting back on hiring and tightening their spending as they brace for a continuing economic slowdown, USA Today reports. A National Federation of Independent Business survey puts small-business confidence last month at its lowest quarterly point since 1980. More »

Democrats are calling for another stimulus package to help American workers as unemployment soars, the New York Times reports. Almost 250,000 American jobs have been lost since the beginning of the year—including 80,000 in March—leading one policy expert to say it's time the government switched focus from the housing crisis to the flagging job market. More »

Unemployment surged in March to 5.1%, the worst it’s been since September 2005, reports the Wall Street Journal. The country lost 80,000 non-farm jobs last month after dropping 76,000 jobs in both January and February. The third sharp drop fuels fears that the US has slipped into a recession and may prompt another interest rate cut by the Fed. More »

The vast majority of Americans are pessimistic about the nation's future and believe the problem-plagued US is heading in the wrong direction. More than 80% believe that “things have seriously gotten off on the wrong track.” That's the highest dissatisfaction rate since the New York Times/ CBS News poll began in the early 90s. The grim findings could spell big trouble for Republicans in November. More »

The exploding art market may be about to deflate: New York’s flurry of contemporary art fairs last week had surprisingly good sales in light of the economic times, reports Portfolio , but the president of one of the nation’s most active lenders against art predicts a sharp downturn from last year’s incredible $12 billion sales—and a "flight to quality" that could leave emerging artists in the cold.  More »

New unemployment claims increased to a two-year high last week, the Wall Street Journal reports. A total of 407,000 Americans filed for jobless benefits, an increase of 38,000 over the previous week and the most since 2005. The surge in claims far surpassed the outlook of economists in a Dow Jones Newswire survey; they predicted an increase of 4,000. More »

Ben Bernanke for the first time acknowledged the possibility of a US recession, but he also voiced optimism that “much” of the adjustment period was over, the Wall Street Journal reports. His testimony before Congress seemed to suggest an end to aggressive stimulus measures—noting that rates had already been cut “substantially” and inflation was still a “source of concern.” More »

In an economic indicator that paints a grim future for swaths of the US population, an all-time record 28 million Americans are expected to be close enough to poverty to receive $36 billion in food stamps in the coming fiscal year, reports the New York Times . There is a surge in recipients in 40 states, with 14 already reporting a record count last year. More »

Looking for cheap real estate? Hop on a foreclosure bus tour, a trend sweeping the nation in the wake of the mortgage crisis, the AP reports. The excursions typically include experts who educate buyers while showing empty homes: some bargain beauties, some fixer-uppers. "We're kind of a seminar on a bus," says one California real-estate agent. More »

Personal spending—a major force in the health of the economy— rose just 0.1% in February, its smallest increase in 16 months, the Wall Street Journal reports. The increase, which actually beat analysts' estimate of a 0.1% decrease, came despite a bump in personal income and signs that inflation is easing, the Journal notes. More »

Stocks fell today amid a new wave of recession concerns, Bloomberg reports. A big drop by Citigroup led financials to their worst plunge in almost two weeks, and oil prices jumped back up after inventory showed supply unchanged from last week. The Dow ended down 109.74 to 12,422.86, the Nasdaq off 16.69 to 2,324.36, and the S&P 11.86 to 1,341.13. More »

Certainly, the 8-month-old credit crisis is serious, but the market turmoil is unlikely to kick off the next Great Depression, financial markets editor Mike Dolan writes for Reuters. "You could be forgiven for thinking we will all soon be hoarding food and reverting to a barter economy," he snipes, but the real issue is psychological: "The problem is lack of confidence." More »

Home prices plummeted again in January, falling a record 10.7% compared to January 2007, according to the bellwether S&P Case/Shiller Hope Price composite. The March consumer confidence index, also out today, plunged to a 5-year low in yet another indication of recession, Bloomberg reports. The Conference Board measures consumer confidence as well as expectations for the next 6 months; that metric fell to a level not seen since the Nixon administration. More »

Young people have long fled recessionary job markets by moving back home, but the current crisis has a new demographic scurrying there: the middle-aged. "This is not like, 'OK, my son just graduated from college and needs to move back in' type of thing," says one financial planner, who has seen more adult children leaning on parents for everything from rent to groceries. More »

Lawmakers are debating how to regulate and oversee financial institutions to prevent another Bear Stearns near-catastrophe. But exactly what that solution should look like depends on who's doing the proposing. President Bush and Wall Street say that Washington's heavy hand could hamstring the industry’s ability to innovate, reports the New York Times. Democratic lawmakers contend it’s time to tighten controls to prevent future meltdowns. More »

The high-profile economic woes plaguing Wall Street and previously hot housing markets are spreading, raising the possibility of the worst recession Americans have faced in years. The New York Times crisscrosses the country, assembling anecdotal evidence—suddenly thrifty brides, unsold construction equipment, sinking earnings at FedEx—that suggests the slowdown could drag into 2009. More »