economy

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Economy Grows in Q3, Signals End of Recession

Tenuous 3.5% growth is best showing in two years

(Newser) - 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...

US Glum on Economy &mdash; and GOP, Too
 US Glum on Economy 
 —and GOP, Too 
Poll

US Glum on Economy —and GOP, Too

Republican Party lacks opposition bump usually accompanying hard times

(Newser) - Americans are bummed about the economy, but that hasn’t given Republicans the usual opposition party boost in Washington. “The mood in America may be blue, but attitudes toward Washington are just jet black,” a pollster tells the Wall Street Journal . Some 58% of respondents think the economy...

Iceland Too Poor for McDonald's

With currency off 80%, golden arches fall

(Newser) - Soon there will be at least one country you can visit without seeing the golden arches. The financial crisis hit Iceland’s currency so hard that McDonald’s, which imports most of its ingredients, can’t afford to operate there anymore. “We would have to raise our prices by...

Women Drive Recovery, But Dissed By Retail

Biz approach to females: take 'a male product and paint it pink'

(Newser) - Women who shop til they drop are stimulating the economy more than any Ben Bernanke, but the planet's greatest spending bloc feels dissed by retailers and service providers. Women control $20 trillion in annual consumer spending in the world—a figure likely to climb to $28 trillion by 2014. Despite...

How Australia Dodged the Recession

How one country ducked the economic downturn

(Newser) - Australia has weathered the financial crisis better than any other developed country. Last week its central bank raised interest rates, indicating its primary concern is now inflation, not growth. What were the keys? Phil Dobbie of BNET explains:
  • Befriending China: Australia used to export much of what it made to
...

Unemployment Hits 9.8%
 Unemployment Hits 9.8% 

Unemployment Hits 9.8%

Employers cut 263,000 jobs, more than expected

(Newser) - More evidence that jobs are bringing up the rear in the economic turnaround: Employers shed 263,000 jobs in September, more than August and far more than expected, raising the unemployment rate to 9.8%. Most of the job losses came in fields such as retail, construction, and manufacturing, notes...

In Tough Times, Families Reselling Burial Plots

Cemeteries report brisk sales of late

(Newser) - People struggling with bills and other earthly concerns are unloading burial plots at a fast clip. One Florida cemetery made as many “buybacks” in the first half of this year as in all of 2008, another in Ohio reports a similar spike, and ads are plentiful on funeral property...

Fed Holds Rates Steady, Says Economy 'Picked Up'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve today decided as expected to hold a key bank lending rate at a record low near zero and pledged to keep rates there "for an extended period." The Fed also declared that "economic activity has picked up following its severe downturn" and said it...

Bernanke: Recession 'Very Likely Over'

(Newser) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke said today that the worst recession since the 1930s is "very likely over at this point." However, "it's still going to feel like a weak economy for some time," he warned, and unemployment will almost certainly rise. He spoke today to the...

Forget Health Reform&mdash;We Can't Afford It
Forget Health Reform—We Can't Afford It
OPINION

Forget Health Reform—We Can't Afford It

The economy should be Obama's top priority: Henninger

(Newser) - Barack Obama makes health care sound like the most pressing issue in American life, but with unemployment at 10% and the country still officially in recession, Daniel Henninger wonders why he's "draining a dwindling reservoir of presidential capital." The cost of health care may be a problem for...

House Dems' Health Plan Half the Cost of Bush Tax Cuts

Cuts to cost $2.1 trillion over a decade; Dems' plan to cost $1 trillion

(Newser) - The House Democrats’ health care plan would cost just half of what President Bush’s tax cuts cost the country, a report by left-leaning researchers says. While the analysts project Bush’s cuts will cost $2.1 trillion in lost revenue over the 10 years since they were enacted, the...

'European Model' Could Die: French PM

'Sluggish growth' may destroy safety net, job security

(Newser) - The prime minister of France, the country perhaps most associated with the cherished "European model" of job security and social safety nets, warned today that it may prove unsustainable because the region's economies are too stagnant. "With this sluggish growth, we cannot preserve the European social model or...

America: Why So Furious?
 America: Why So Furious? 
ANALYSIS

America: Why So Furious?

Terrorism, recession, economy drive nationwide rage

(Newser) - With town halls gone mad and anti-Obama protesters toting guns, this is America’s angriest summer in recent memory, McClatchy reports. The fury of voters has deep roots, from a long history of hate groups to anti-Vietnam marches to rage against George W. Bush when he left office—but it’...

Lousy Retail Sales Will Delay Recovery

Recession isn't over as far as consumers are concerned

(Newser) - If the recession is indeed waning, nobody told consumers. Retailers of every kind reported lousy sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports. Target’s same-store sales fell 6.2%, Home Depot’s dropped 9.1% and Saks’ plummeted a whopping 15.5%. And with unemployment,...

Economy Is Only Recovering on Paper
Economy Is Only
Recovering on Paper
Analysis

Economy Is Only Recovering on Paper

(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...

Unemployment Will Probably Miss 10%: Silver
Unemployment Will Probably Miss 10%: Silver
Analysis

Unemployment Will Probably Miss 10%: Silver

(Newser) - Lots of economists are predicting that unemployment, which at last count hung at 9.4%, will hit 10% before the calendar changes, but Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com disagrees. For that to happen, the economy would need to lose another million jobs or so, and "the jobs picture is...

Reappoint Bernanke: Krugman
 Reappoint Bernanke: Krugman 

Reappoint Bernanke: Krugman

(Newser) - If there’s any justice, Ben Bernanke will get another go-around at the helm of the Federal Reserve, Paul Krugman tells Bloomberg. “He’s earned the right to a second term,” the Nobel laureate says. “When the banking system failed to deliver capital where it was needed,...

Big Government Prevented Great Depression II
Big Government Prevented Great Depression II
OPINION

Big Government Prevented Great Depression II

...And Republicans kept demanding that it step aside and allow it

(Newser) - The economy isn’t in great shape, but we’re going to avoid Great Depression II, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. “What saved us? The answer, basically, is big government.” Unlike the private sector, the government didn’t decrease spending as its income decreased, which...

China's eBay Thrives in Global Downturn

(Newser) - China's version of eBay is flourishing despite a crawling global economy and critics accusing the company of abetting black marketeers, the New York Times reports. Started 6 years ago, Taobao.com offers free listings, which forced eBay out of China and lured 120 million users who generate $15 billion in...

Posh Resort Offers $19 Empty Room —With Tent

(Newser) - A chic San Diego hotel is offering rooms for only $19 a night—without toiletries, towels, sheets, or a bed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. “It's our way of getting people here that might not normally come," says Rancho Bernardo Inn manager John Gates. Taken over by...

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