recession depression

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What the Recession Was Good for: Our Mental Health
What the Recession Was Good for: Our Mental Health
NEW STUDY

What the Recession Was Good for: Our Mental Health

Researchers say it could be result of fewer doc visits or more leisure time

(Newser) - Americans appear to have experienced better mental health during the recent recession than during the years leading up to it. So say researchers out of the University of Maryland who crunched data on depression, anxiety, and psychological disorders in a study published this week in PLoS ONE . The reason remains...

Krugman: This Looks Like a Permanent Depression
Krugman: This Looks Like
a Permanent Depression
OPINION

Krugman: This Looks Like a Permanent Depression

Evidence suggests economy may never fully recover

(Newser) - When it comes to the economy, you hear a lot of talk about "exit strategies," with monetary officials resigned to the fact that, for now, "credit must be easy and interest rates low"—just until the US gets back on its feet. "But what if...

Recession's Consequence: Rise of the 'Working Poor'

One-third of working families near poverty

(Newser) - The good news: More people went back to work in the US in 2011. The bad news: Many of them took lower-paying jobs, leading to an increase in the number of working poor families that year, a new analysis shows. In 2011, there were 200,000 more working poor families—...

EU Unemployment Hits All-Time High

Greece, Spain hit especially hard

(Newser) - Eurozone unemployment hit 11.8% in November, leaving a record 18.8 million out of work, according to data released today by the EU's official statistics agency. The figure, the highest recorded since the currency union formed in 1999, is only a touch higher than October, but a full...

Recession Quadrupled Suicide Rate
 Recession 
 Quadrupled 
 Suicide Rate 



study says

Recession Quadrupled Suicide Rate

Study finds additional 1.5K deaths per year

(Newser) - The suicide rate rose four times more quickly between 2008 and 2010 than it did in the preceding eight years, a study finds, a jump of an extra 1,500 deaths per year. Between 1999 and 2007, the rate annually climbed by about 0.12 deaths per 100,000 people;...

Eurozone Unemployment Hits Record 11.6%

Greece and Spain see the worst of it

(Newser) - Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone hit a record high of 11.6% in September, official figures showed today, a sign the economy is deteriorating as governments struggle to get a grip on their three-year debt crisis. The rate reported by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, was up from an...

1 in 5 Homes Have Student Debt
 1 in 5 Homes 
 Have Student Debt 
NEW REPORT

1 in 5 Homes Have Student Debt

Figure jumps from 15% in 2007

(Newser) - Some 19% of US households, or almost one in five, owed student debt or had deferred loans in 2010, a Pew study finds. That's a jump of four percentage points from 2007—and twice as many homes are feeling the burden compared to two decades ago, USA Today reports....

US Poverty Rate Still at Record Highs

But figures still better than analysts' predictions

(Newser) - The Census Bureau says the number of Americans in poverty stood at 15% in 2011 as the number of poor remained at record highs. About 46.2 million people, or nearly 1 in 6, were in poverty. The figures were better than the expectations of analysts who had predicted an...

US Poverty Rate to Hit Highest Since 1960s

Economists think it'll hit 15.7% this year

(Newser) - The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net. The AP surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks, and academics,...

Fake Budgets Drive San Bernardino Bankrupt

It's the latest in a string of three California cities to go under

(Newser) - California's cities are dropping like flies : San Bernardino's city council voted to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy last night, making it the third California city to do so in as many weeks, the AP reports. With a population of about 210,000, it'll be the second-largest US city...

Unemployment Taking Toll on Middle-Aged

Rate of those jobless over long term is 'unprecedented'

(Newser) - The unemployment rate among younger workers may be higher, but economists are equally worried about those who are middle-aged and out of work, reports the Wall Street Journal . That's because the years between 45 and 60 should be prime earning years, a time when parents might well be trying...

How George W. Bush May Help Obama Win Re-Election

Steve Kornacki: New report makes clear our economic problems go back a ways

(Newser) - On first blush, you'd think yet another lousy economic report—this one saying that the median American family's net worth had fallen back to mid-'90s levels—would be bad news for President Obama. But there's another school of thought out there, notes Steve Kornacki at Salon...

1 in 3 Homeless Are Obese
 1 in 3 Homeless Are Obese 
study says

1 in 3 Homeless Are Obese

Malnutrition might be expected, but Boston study found just 1.6% underweight

(Newser) - If you imagine the homeless as emaciated waifs, think again: In today's America, even the destitute are fat. A new study of Boston's homeless population found that 65.7% were overweight, and half of those—or about 1 in 3 overall—were obese, Wired reports. "This study...

AIG Boss: Get Ready to Retire at 80

Robert Benmosche makes gloomy comment in response to EU debt crisis

(Newser) - Europe's debt crisis proves the need for governments around the globe to take big steps to get their economies back on track—and that may mean their citizens working for an extra decade ... or two. AIG's chief executive expects the retirement age to ultimately jump to "70,...

Jobs Report as Bad as Can Be
 Jobs Report as Bad as Can Be 
OPINIONs

Jobs Report as Bad as Can Be

And it's very bad news for the White House

(Newser) - You don't have to look at the sinking Dow—which is now in negative territory for the year—to get a sense of just how bleak today's jobs report was. A glance at financial blogs offers a depressing reminder:
  • Felix Salmon, Reuters : It's "about as bad
...

A First for US Public Pension Fund: Bankruptcy

Northern Mariana Islands' fund could run out of money in 2 years

(Newser) - It's a high-profile milestone out of a not-so-high-profile place. The Northern Mariana Islands' public pension fund sought bankruptcy protection last month, a notable move in that it's the first such US fund to do so. The Wall Street Journal paints a picture of a complicated road to collapse...

Student Loan Debt Passes $1T
 Student Loan Debt Passes $1T 

Student Loan Debt Passes $1T

Figure much higher than expected

(Newser) - America's student loan debt is a lot higher than previously believed, a fact that may create a drag on the economy for years to come, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Total debt passed $1 trillion late last quarter, officials told a banking conference...

Young Adults Put Life on Hold Over Economy

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
...

National Debt Now as Big as Entire Economy

And sure to surpass it soon: USA Today

(Newser) - It's official, at least according to USA Today : The national debt is as big as the country's entire economy, and sure to surpass it soon. The federal government owes more than $15.23 trillion to creditors and government programs like Social Security, which is more than the latest...

Americans Gave Up $34.3B in Vacation Days This Year

Average worker skipped 2 days of time off

(Newser) - America, you’re working too hard. The average worker earned 14 vacation days this year, but only used 12 of them, according to a survey from Expedia. That works out to about 226 million unused days in total and, based on the national average salary of $39,416 per year...

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