unemployment

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US Consumer Spending Falls Yet Again

1% drop greater than forecast; 6 straight months of decline

(Newser) - Consumer spending fell in December to finish off its worst year since 1961, Bloomberg reports. Purchases fell 1%, topping analyst estimates of a 0.9% decline. It was the record sixth consecutive month spending has fallen, and that streak may get longer, one economist predicted. Thanks to nearly 2.6...

States Get Creative as Jobs Disappear

Even as tax revenues shrink, states pay to entice employers

(Newser) - State governments, reeling from diminished tax revenues that have forced cuts in services and, in some cases, jobs, increasingly are offering tax breaks and incentives to employers in an effort to stimulate the job market, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Now is not the time to back off the...

Welfare Rolls Not Expanding to Meet Crisis

The 1996 reform is making it tougher for needy to get help as economy flatlines

(Newser) - Welfare programs, rewritten in 1996 to give individual states more control, do not seem to be responding to the growing needs of the disadvantaged as the economy tanks and unemployment soars, reports the New York Times. Some 18 states—including many of those with the highest job losses—actually cut...

What the Stimulus Package Would Get Us

$800 billion, $647-page tome means big gov't again

(Newser) - President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus plan—which stood at 647 pages when it passed the House last week—signals a return to “unabashed” big government, the Los Angeles Times reports. Here’s what it means:
  • For the next 2 years, individuals making under $75,000 will get a
...

Laid-Off? Be Your Own Boss

Interest in small business is booming as unemployment rises

(Newser) - The pink slips are flowing, but that’s not halting thousands from using severance packages and savings to found their own businesses, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The new gigs often bear little resemblance to past ones—one Wall Street exec now walks dogs—and differ from the economy at...

Wall Street Bonuses Fall 44%
 Wall Street Bonuses Fall 44% 
Jan 28, 2009 4:58 PM CST

Wall Street Bonuses Fall 44%

State may lose $1B in tax revenue

(Newser) - Wall Street firms still dished out end-of-year bonuses in 2008, but they were a lot smaller. Cash bonuses fell 44% from the year prior, from a total of $33 billion to $18 billion, Reuters reports. That drop may take $1 billion in tax revenue from New York state, which is...

Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs
 Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs 
Jan 26, 2009 7:50 AM CST

Caterpillar to Slash 20K Jobs

Don't they know Obama wants to heap money on infrastructure?

(Newser) - Caterpillar Inc will cut 20,000 jobs—or 18% of its workforce—after posting a 32% drop in fourth-quarter income, the Wall Street Journal reports. “We were whipsawed in the fourth quarter,” said CEO Jim Owens. “Key industries were hit by a rapidly deteriorating global economy.”...

Desperate Times: UK Mulls 3-Day Week
Desperate Times: UK Mulls 3-Day Week
Jan 25, 2009 10:39 AM CST

Desperate Times: UK Mulls 3-Day Week

Gov't may compensate workers to avoid higher cost of mass layoffs

(Newser) - Now officially in recession amid the global downturn, the specter of a three-day work week has emerged in Britain, the Independent reports. Though officials say it’s "not imminent," the government has discussed paying firms to cut hours with public cash going toward compensating employees for the lost...

Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks
 Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks 
MARKET Open
Jan 22, 2009 8:53 AM CST

Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks

(Newser) - Stocks headed south this morning, following worse-than-expected housing and job data. Jobless claims rose by 62,000 last week, and housing starts slid 15.5%, to their slowest pace on record. The Dow sunk 144 points, accompanied by an 18-point decline in the S&P. A strong quarter from Apple...

New Jobless Claims Leap Past Estimates

Did you ever suspect they'd go down? Me either

(Newser) - The number of new claims for jobless benefits jumped more than expected last week, as companies continue to cut jobs at a furious pace. The Labor Department reported today that initial claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 589,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 527,000 the previous week....

Male-Dominated Industries Bear Brunt of Job Losses

Construction, manufacturing cuts disproportionately hit men

(Newser) - The gap between men's and women’s unemployment is at a 25-year high because job cuts have hit especially hard in male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing, reports Reuters. Some 80% of the nearly 3 million workers who lost jobs between November 2007 and November 2008 were men. Women hold...

Tsunami in Medicaid Need Batters Broke States

Demand from newly unemployed leaves states looking to stimulus package for help

(Newser) - A surge in demand for Medicaid is draining state coffers just when they can least afford it, a New York Times survey of 40 states reveals. Demand ballooned by up to 10% in many states last year as people lost their employer-sponsored health care with their jobs, and officials believe...

US Economy Isn't as Bad as 1982 ... Just Yet
US Economy Isn't as Bad
as 1982 ... Just Yet
Analysis
Jan 21, 2009 10:29 AM CST

US Economy Isn't as Bad as 1982 ... Just Yet

But downturn will definitely get worse, and only big stimulus will limit its depth

(Newser) - We’ve heard a lot lately about how this recession is the worst since the 1980s, or even since the Great Depression, so David Leonhardt, in the New York Times, tries to get some perspective. Using jobs data as his main metric, Leonhardt finds things aren’t nearly as bad...

Belt-Tightening Spares Older Workers

Increasingly, companies value maturity, experience of older employees

(Newser) - As companies nationwide cut tens of thousands of jobs, younger workers appear to be taking a hit as companies try to retain older, more experienced employees, reports BusinessWeek. Boomers increasingly have become corporate America’s gold standard: “When you’re in your 50s and 60s, you’re in your...

Army Recruiting Soars as Job Dry Up

Recruitment soars with unemployment

(Newser) - The recession has swelled military recruitment, bumping the forces past their goals for the first time since 2004, reports the New York Times. Many Americans are being enticed from a flagging job market by the promised stability and benefits. The Army—whose recruiting has struggled most under the shadow of...

Libraries a Cheap Refuge, But Top Target for Budget Cuts

Popular books see huge waiting lists, while unemployed line up to use computers

(Newser) - Whether you’re looking for a job, or just a cheap respite from the horrors of the economy, the public library has become the place to be, the Wall Street Journal reports. But even as attendance swells, the same financial crisis that brings patrons has left many branches cash-poor. One...

Bummer Economy? Move Home!
 Bummer Economy? 
 Move Home! 
Jan 13, 2009 2:08 PM CST

Bummer Economy? Move Home!

More adult children are moving in with parents

(Newser) - A bleak job market and skyrocketing rents have college grads—even working adults—boomeranging back to their childhood homes, something that's fast losing its social stigma, the Boston Globe reports. About half of adults ages 18 and 24 live with their parents.

CEO Axings Up
 CEO Axings Up 
Jan 13, 2009 6:43 AM CST

CEO Axings Up

Downturn puts bosses in the firing line as investors lose patience

(Newser) - Americans are losing their jobs at the fastest rate in many years and chief executives are far from immune, reports the Wall Street Journal. Six publicly held firms have chucked their CEOs in the last 8 days alone. Many others—including big names like GM's Rick Wagoner, Vikram Pandit of...

Jobs to Ditch Before the Recession Does It for You

Auto industry, real estate among worst fields

(Newser) - Want to keep your job this year? Steer clear of these professions, which a new study says will be hard-hit by the recession, Australia's News Network reports:
  • Car salesperson
  • Real estate agent
  • Investment banker
  • Prawn fisherman

Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143
 Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143 
MARKETS
Jan 9, 2009 3:26 PM CST

Dow Ends Bleak Week Off 143

Index down 4.8% since Monday

(Newser) - Stocks posted losses today as news that US unemployment hit 7.2% moved the markets to the finish of a dismal week, MarketWatch reports. The Dow lost 143.28 to close at 8,599.18, with losses perhaps limited because investors were expecting the bad jobs news. The Nasdaq fell...

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