US economy

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Unemployment Rate Drops to 8.6%; Economy Adds 120K Jobs
 Unemployment Drops to 8.6% 

Unemployment Drops to 8.6%

Economy added 120K jobs in November

(Newser) - Today's jobs report brings good cheer to the holiday season: The unemployment rate has dropped to 8.6%, the lowest it has been since March 2009, the AP reports. The rate had been expected to hold steady at 9%, the Wall Street Journal adds. The economy added 120,000...

Young Men Face Soaring Unemployment
Now Is an Awful Time to Be
a Young Man in America
in case you missed it

Now Is an Awful Time to Be a Young Man in America

Some 14.4% of 25- to 34-year-olds jobless; many living at home

(Newser) - Few Americans were immune to the recession, but the plight of young men continues to be particularly dire. The unemployment rate for male high-school grads ages 25 to 34 is 14.4%, far above the 9% national average; the figure also marks a huge jump from the 6.1% jobless...

President Obama Will Win Election But Can't Fix Economy: Poll


 Obama Will 
 Win, Can't Fix 
 Economy 
nbc/wsj poll

Obama Will Win, Can't Fix Economy

Americans like Obama but fear for country: poll

(Newser) - If a national poll can combine devastating news and a bright ray of sunshine for President Obama, this is it. A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey shows that about 75% of respondents don't like Obama's economic policies and fear the country is headed in the wrong direction....

Arrogant Meritocrats Are Ruining America: Ross Douthat
 Smart People 
 Are Ruining 
 America 
OPINION

Smart People Are Ruining America

Arrogance at root of economic mess: Ross Douthat

(Newser) - In this country, we applaud those who have the brains to build themselves up from nothing—but it’s those very brains that got us into the current economic mess. Over the past decade, America’s elite has driven us “off a cliff—mostly by being too smart for...

Unemployment Falls to 9%
 Unemployment Falls to 9% 

Unemployment Falls to 9%

October saw 80K new jobs added

(Newser) - The bad news: Just 80,000 new jobs were created in October, when around 100,000 were expected. That’s the fewest in four months, the AP reports. The good news: The unemployment rate fell to 9%, its first decline since July; it had been expected to hold steady at...

Obama's Jobs Bill Fails in Senate

Measure can't overcome filibuster

(Newser) - No Senate miracle for the president's $447 billion jobs bill. As expected , the measure failed to advance in the chamber this evening, reports the Hill . All Republicans and two Democrats (Ben Nelson and Jon Tester) joined together in a filibuster, leaving the measure well short of the necessary 60...

Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Still 9.1% as Economy Adds 103K Jobs
 Unemployment Holds at 9.1% 

Unemployment Holds at 9.1%

Economy needs to add even more jobs to keep up with population growth

(Newser) - Employers added 103,000 jobs in September, a modest burst of hiring after a sluggish summer, but the unemployment rate stayed at 9.1% for the third straight month. Nearly half of the gains last month occurred because 45,000 striking Verizon workers returned to their jobs. The private sector...

Fed Tries 'Operation Twist' to Spur Growth

Move intended to hold down long-term interest rates

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve says it will sell $400 billion of its shorter-term securities to buy longer-term holdings, its latest effort to boost a weak economy. The Fed's move to rebalance its $2.87 trillion portfolio could lower Treasury yields further. Ultimately, it might reduce rates on mortgages and other...

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015
Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015
new report

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015

Economists, builders, mortgage analysts fear 'lost decade'

(Newser) - Even more bad economic news from a report released today: Housing prices will remain depressed for years, dropping by an expected 2.5% this year and rising only 1.1% each year through 2015, according to the survey of more than 100 economists. Since the 2005 peak, housing prices have...

Paul Krugman: Budget Cuts are 'Bleeding' the Economy
 Budget Cuts 
 Are 'Bleeding' 
 the Economy 
paul krugman

Budget Cuts Are 'Bleeding' the Economy

We need to spend to staunch the flow: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Trying to fix the economy with budget cuts reminds Paul Krugman of an outdated medical practice: bleeding patients. This “economic bloodletting” is supposed to boost confidence, but it's a cure that just makes things worse. "Somehow, businesses and consumers seem much more concerned about the lack of...

Odds of Second Recession Grow: Economists

And Fed can't do much to stop it, say experts

(Newser) - Economists are citing a one-in-three chance of a new recession—the highest likelihood given in the Wall Street Journal ’s regular survey since the recovery began. The figure is 4 percentage points higher than last month’s as joblessness, a troubled stock market, and fears for Europe continue. “...

Obama's Jobs Bill Goes to Congress Tonight

But it's missing one crucial element, 'Los Angeles Times' notes

(Newser) - "Pass this bill," President Obama said more than two dozen times during his two speeches last week touting his jobs bill —and he’ll say it again tonight when he officially sends the American Jobs Act to Congress. “He will call on Congress to pass the...

Obama Plan Would Bring 1.9M Jobs: Moody's

Would grow economy 2%, says expert

(Newser) - President Obama’s jobs plan would put some 1.9 million people back to work and grow the economy 2%, says Moody’s chief economist. The plan could slice the unemployment rate by a percentage point, adds Mark Zandi, whose analysis comes as the president heads to Virginia to...

Bank of America Job Cuts May Reach 40K

Continues major overhaul in effort to slim down

(Newser) - Job cuts at Bank of America could hit a number much higher than earlier reported —four times higher: Executives are now discussing cutbacks to the tune of 40,000 positions, the Wall Street Journal reports. A final decision isn’t expected until later today. The bank is aiming to...

Obama Must Return to Deficit Spending in Jobs Speech Krugman
 Obama: Be 'Big and 
 Bold' in Jobs Speech 
Paul Krugman

Obama: Be 'Big and Bold' in Jobs Speech

Go back to deficit spending to boost economy: Krugman

(Newser) - "Everyone in Washington" should be crying out, "My God, what have we done?" writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . His reasons: The puny 2% interest rate on 10-year national bonds is proof that President Obama's deficit spending did not raise interest rates, as critics had...

US Added No New Jobs Last Month

Unemployment remains at 9.1%

(Newser) - Following a depressing economic forecast from the White House budget office, today's jobs report brings even more depressing news: For the first time in nearly a year, the US economy added no net jobs last month. The government lost 17,000 jobs while the private sector added just 17,...

Meet &#39;Generation Limbo&#39;
 Meet 'Generation Limbo' 

Meet 'Generation Limbo'

Increasingly, 20somethings wait for their 'real' career

(Newser) - Stephanie Kelly graduated in 2009 with a degree in advertising; instead she works as a part-time secretary and writes freelance for an online “Secret Santa Organizer.” Amy Klein has a degree in English lit from Harvard, but the 2007 grad has been touring the country in a minivan...

Americans Down on Economy, Blame Bush

86% cite 'poor' economy; 51% say it's Dubya's fault

(Newser) - Americans' views on the economy have dimmed this summer. But so far, the growing pessimism doesn't seem to be taking a toll on President Obama's re-election prospects. More people now believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new AP-GfK poll shows, and confidence in Obama'...

Don&#39;t Hold Your Breath for New Fed Stimulus
Don't Hold Your Breath
for New Fed Stimulus
OPINION

Don't Hold Your Breath for New Fed Stimulus

Investors might be barking up the wrong tree

(Newser) - Stocks have been shooting up this week on speculation that Ben Bernanke will announce another round of quantitative easing to prop up the economy in his speech Friday at Jackson Hole. But investors had better hold their horses, Neil Irwin of the Washington Post reports, because “the appetite within...

AP Poll of Economists: Double-Dip Recession Unlikely, But Growth Will Be Slow
Next 12 Months: No Recession, but Slow Growth
economists say

Next 12 Months: No Recession, but Slow Growth

Risk of recession at 26%; unemployment likely 9% at year's end

(Newser) - Despite a bombardment of bad news in recent weeks, economists don’t expect another recession over the next 12 months—but economic growth will barely be perceptible in that period, an AP poll of top economists finds. They expect high unemployment and weak consumer spending to dog the US into...

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