economy

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Jobless Claims Hit 6-Year High
 Jobless Claims Hit 6-Year High
Economy
Aug 7, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

Jobless Claims Hit 6-Year High

Mounting layoffs lead to surprise jump in claims, report says

(Newser) - The number of newly laid off Americans signing up for jobless benefits last week unexpectedly climbed to its highest point in more than 6 years as the faltering US economy forced companies to cut back. The Labor Department reported today that new applications filed for unemployment rose by 7,000...

Struggling Whole Foods Pushes Cheaper Image

Chain's 'Whole Paycheck' nickname becomes albatross in downturn

(Newser) - Whole Foods is attempting to lose its reputation for high prices as shoppers increasingly look for thrift, the New York Times reports. The economic slump has changed shopping patterns: A July survey estimated that 20% of US shoppers have switched to cheaper grocery stores. Whole Foods has cut prices and...

Fed Again Leaves Funds Rate at 2%
Fed Again Leaves Funds Rate at 2%
Aug 5, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Fed Again Leaves Funds Rate at 2%

Decision aimed at balancing inflation, economic worries

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve declared today that it was keeping its target for the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other, at 2%. Confronted with the perils of a slumping US economy and rising inflation, the Fed decided for a second consecutive meeting to leave interest rates unchanged....

Obama Calls for $1,000 Rebates to Pay Energy Bills

Candidate says 'Big Oil' can help foot the cost

(Newser) - Barack Obama unvield an "emergency" plan for the economy today that includes $1,000 rebates for families or $500 for individuals to defray rising energy costs, Politico reports. The money would come in part from "windfall profits from Big Oil," the campaign says. Obama would pump another...

Workers Losing Hours as Economy Tightens

Jobless figures don't reflect part-time jump

(Newser) - US joblessness stands at a moderate 5.5%, but more than 3.7 million workers have seen their hours cut from full-time to part-time over the last year, shrinking their paychecks even as gas and food prices soar, reports the New York Times. That's the highest figure in the half-century...

Oil, Gas Prices Continue Slide
 Oil, Gas Prices Continue Slide
Jul 30, 2008 6:59 AM CDT

Oil, Gas Prices Continue Slide

A glimmer of hope in otherwise gloomy economy as crude prices sink

(Newser) - A dip in the price of energy is providing a welcome respite from an otherwise grim economic picture. Oil, which neared $150 a barrel earlier this month, has dropped $23, or 16%, since July 3; natural gas prices are down 33%. AAA says nationwide gas prices have dropped to $3....

Candidates Shift Focus to Economy, Center Ground
Candidates Shift Focus to Economy, Center Ground
ANALYSIS
Jul 29, 2008 1:48 PM CDT

Candidates Shift Focus to Economy, Center Ground

Both turn their attention to finding solutions for housing, energy crisis

(Newser) - The presidential hopefuls are turning their focus to the home front—and the economy in particular—in the wake of Barack Obama's foreign trip, ABC News reports. John McCain criticized America's dependence on foreign oil yesterday while speaking in front of an oil derrick in California, while Obama hosted a...

Obama Will Plunge US Into Recession
Obama Will Plunge US Into Recession
OPINION
Jul 29, 2008 10:15 AM CDT

Obama Will Plunge US Into Recession

Dem's plans would spell disaster, says wonk for first Bush

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s campaign promises on the economy—particularly on taxes and trade—would be a disaster for Americans at all income levels, an adviser to the first President Bush writes in the Wall Street Journal. On “tax, spending, energy, regulatory, and trade policy, if the proposals espoused by...

Squeezed Banks Slash Biz Loans
Squeezed
Banks Slash
Biz Loans
Jul 28, 2008 5:09 AM CDT

Squeezed Banks Slash Biz Loans

Real-estate fallout dries up credit stream

(Newser) - Reeling from real-estate losses, banks are turning off the credit spigot to loan-seeking businesses, the New York Times reports. The loan reduction means more bad news down the line as money-starved companies begin to cut workers. Banks cut credit nearly 3% over the past year, the most since 2001, according...

Slowdown No Problem for Luxury Goods

Affluent Americans still snapping up fancy watches, jewelry

(Newser) - If America’s economy is failing, at least it’s going down in style. Sales of luxury goods have been surprisingly strong this year, despite the overarching economic gloom, the Wall Street Journal reports. Brands such as Hermès and Burberry have seen double-digit growth, as Americans continue to snap...

Economy May Be McCain's Achilles Heel
Economy May Be McCain's Achilles Heel
analysis
Jul 25, 2008 11:43 AM CDT

Economy May Be McCain's Achilles Heel

He's seen as weak on pocketbook woes, now top priority with voters

(Newser) - Americans are so worried about the economy they’re returning to a pre-9/11 mindset in which pocketbook issues trump national security—and that doesn’t bode well for John McCain, Politico reports. His predicament is beginning to look oddly like the reelection campaigns of George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter:...

McCain's Long-Shot Status Slips Into No-Shot Territory

In a change year, odds looks stacked too heavily against Republican

(Newser) - The presidential race has broken so hard in Barack Obama’s direction that Michael Grunwald asks “the question the horse-race-loving media are never supposed to ask” in Time: “Is McCain a no-shot?” The Republican is in dire straits, having lost advantage on Iran (Bush is moving toward negotiation),...

Percentage of Working Women in Record Drop

Surprised experts thought 'motherhood movement' caused drop

(Newser) - The percentage of women in the US job market dipped this decade through a period of economic recovery for the first time in 48 years—and the faltering economy is bound to do even more damage, reports the New York Times. Like men, American women are leaving the workplace due...

Riding Mowers Sputter With US Economy

Housing downturn, gas prices bode ill for icon

(Newser) - Once a symbol of American prosperity, the riding lawnmower is running out of gas, the Washington Post reports. The whole business “is deeply troubled by the decline in housing starts,” said one industry group spokesman. Rising oil prices have also pummeled demand. But what’s really turning lawnmower...

9M% Inflation Crushes Zimbabwe
9M% Inflation Crushes Zimbabwe
Jul 18, 2008 9:56 AM CDT

9M% Inflation Crushes Zimbabwe

As cash becomes worthless, citizens face starvation

(Newser) - The political violence that ravaged Zimbabwe has subsided since Robert Mugabe's sham reelection, but another devastation continues unabated: economic meltdown. Zimbabwe's inflation rate has now hit 9 million percent, and a $50-billion Zimbabwean note is worth just 34 cents and falling in American currency. The Guardian investigates the surreal economic...

Rich Countries Getting Soaked for a Change
Rich Countries Getting Soaked for a Change
ANALYSIS
Jul 17, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

Rich Countries Getting Soaked for a Change

Developing markets faring better in current economic downturn

(Newser) - As the US and other developed economies feel the crunch of a housing collapse and credit crisis, emerging economies, especially those fueled by commodities, have yet to feel the pinch, the Washington Post reports. "We are overloaded with money, crazy amounts of money from the energy market," a...

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand
 US Smacked by
 the Invisible Hand 
ANALYSIS
Jul 16, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand

Americans are moving away from faith in free market

(Newser) - Are we losing confidence in market mechanisms? Years of unfettered free markets contributed to the current gloomy economic situation, and even the market-championing White House has lurched into government regulation of the financial world, the Los Angeles Times reports. With housing prices falling and oil prices rising, “the message...

Romney Gains Ground in Veepstakes

Business acumen is the peg

(Newser) - Mitt Romney’s business acumen, national profile, and fundraising chops have put him among the elite of VP hopefuls, Reuters reports. And while he and John McCain exchanged nasty barbs during the primaries, the mutual resentment seems to have subsided, at least on the surface. "Mitt and Ann Romney...

Paulson's Imprimateur on Freddie/Fannie Rescue

Madcap weekend recasts Treasury Secretary in Clintonian mold

(Newser) - Henry Paulson had a very busy weekend. The treasury secretary had been formulating contingency plans for bailing out beleaguered Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for weeks, but Friday’s crisis came before those plans were in place, the Wall Street Journal reports in a reconstruction of events leading to the...

Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse
Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse
OPINION
Jul 14, 2008 8:32 AM CDT

Fannie/Freddie: It's Bad, but It Could Be Worse

Regulation helped stave off real disaster, writes Krugman

(Newser) - The government's move to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has led to new fears about the state of the American economy—but don't worry too much, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. Fannie and Freddie are problematic institutions, but compared to the actions of big banks...

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