economy

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$6 Gas Possible by Year's End
 $6 Gas Possible by Year's End 
Jul 7, 2008 7:38 AM CDT

$6 Gas Possible by Year's End

With oil near $150 a barrel, experts say $200 is a very real number for 2008

(Newser) - As oil flirts with $150 a barrel, nearly double its price from last year, the specter of $6 a gallon gas at US pumps has become more real. A plethora of factors—from the threat of conflict with Iran to tight supplies and a weak dollar—continue to exert upward...

US Lost 62K Jobs in June
 US Lost 62K Jobs in June 
Jul 3, 2008 8:23 AM CDT

US Lost 62K Jobs in June

US payrolls suffer sixth straight monthly decline

(Newser) - US employers, battered by rising fuel prices and a stuttering economy, continued to cut payrolls in June, eliminating some 62,000 jobs. It was the sixth straight monthly drop, reports the Wall Street Journal, and nearly 13% more than economists expected. Payrolls have fallen 438,000 so far this year,...

Tough Job Market May Last Through Late 2009

'Slow motion' recession will continue to pare jobs

(Newser) - US jobs are eroding and they're unlikely to rebound until late 2009, reports the New York Times. May’s 5.5% unemployment rate is a point higher than a year ago and the 9.7% underemployed rate is up from 8.3% in May 2007, reports the Labor Department—which...

Starbucks to Close 600 Stores Across US

Most of the shuttering shops opened after October 2005

(Newser) - Starbucks will close hundreds of stores across the US in its newest attempt to boost deflated profits, the Seattle Times reports. In the next nine months, about 600 stores are getting the ax, most of which opened after October 2005. About 12,000 employees will lose their jobs, but the...

Americans Have Less in Their Shopping Carts

Downsizing on the rise, whether consumers notice it or not

(Newser) - Food prices are rising, but thanks to some chicanery on product labels, many Americans may not realize it. Instead of raising prices, manufacturers are slimming cereal boxes, juice cartons, and bars of soap, and they’re doing it very quietly. If asked, they’ll say it offsets rising fuel and...

Windsor Bills a Royal Pain for Taxpayers

Monarchy subsists on $80M in public money each year

(Newser) - Britain’s royal family is facing the effects of tough financial times, ABC News reports—but it's easier to cope when you have taxpayers to foot the monarchy's $80 million in annual expenses. While that’s just $1.30 per taxpayer, Buckingham Palace says, critics note unnecessary expenses, like a...

Cash-Strapped Dieters Drop Weight Loss Programs

Millions drop Weight Watchers

(Newser) - Millions of Americans are getting fat on the economic downturn—but not in a good way. As prices for essentials like gas and food spiral, the 20% of the population on a diet are turning away from highly structured weight loss programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers in search...

Forget Iraq, US Is in Need of Nation-Building

Healing country is top priority in November, Friedman writes

(Newser) - The key issue in the presidential election won’t be national security or Iraq, as many once believed—it will be how to fix our ailing nation at home, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. “We are a country in debt and in decline—not terminal, not...

For Venture Capitalists, Wells Run Dry

None of investors' gambles go public in second quarter

(Newser) - Wall Street has not been kind to venture capitalists in the second quarter. For the first time since 1978, not one company they backed went public, taking away their source of big paydays, the New York Times  reports. Observers cite a number of reasons, including lousy market conditions, a shift...

Aussie Minister Ditches Economy for Wombats

Treasury boss going incommunicado during recess to help save endangered critters

(Newser) - The Australian economy might be wobbly, but the treasury secretary would rather be off romping with northern hairy-nosed wombats, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reports. Ken Henry is unapologetically using the legislature's 5-week winter recess to tend to a small population of endangered critters—to the baying of opposition politicians worried over...

Forget the Rebound; 'This Thing's Going Down'
 Forget the Rebound; 'This Thing's Going Down'
OPINION
Jun 27, 2008 8:43 AM CDT

Forget the Rebound; 'This Thing's Going Down'

We can't expect a quick recovery from the economic downturn

(Newser) - A cycle has emerged in the economic mood of recent months: a round of bad news sends markets into a tailspin, then things appear to improve, complete with predictions that the worst is behind us, only to fall apart again, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. It’s time...

75% Blame Bush for Faltering Economy

Prez approval rating at all time low

(Newser) - A new poll paints a gloomy picture of a pessimistic America struggling with soaring gas prices and a deteriorating economy—and blaming President Bush. Three of four Americans—including a large number of Republicans—hold the president responsible for the economic downturn, according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll. The...

$16B Deficit May Help Keep Gay Marriage Legal in Calif.

Financial boon to strapped state could cast decisive vote against Nov. ballot measure

(Newser) - With a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that could dam the just-unleashed tide of same-sex marriage in the state, proponents believe California's $16 billion budget deficit could be the deciding factor for voters, Julie Bolcer writes in the Advocate. "I think this is a huge opportunity for businesses...

House Votes to Extend Jobless Benefits

But measure faces rough road in Senate, White House

(Newser) - The House today approved an extra three months of jobless benefits for all unemployed Americans, knowing the plan's chances are slight in the Senate. After failing to get a veto-proof two-thirds margin by three votes yesterday, Democrats got an exact two-thirds margin with a 274-137 vote—the amount needed to...

Hard Workers in Cuba Will Finally Get Their Due

Wages will be tied to productivity

(Newser) - Raul Castro has ordered employers to create new salary structures that include extra pay for increased productivity—a bold departure, by Cuban standards, from Socialist orthodoxy, the Miami Herald reports. Under the current system, workers get a flat fee based on their job descriptions with no hope for incentives. Low...

General Election Starts Coming Into Focus

McCain, Obama focus on Democrat's economic agenda

(Newser) - Barack Obama launched a 2-week economic tour today, prompting dueling press releases, Time reports. Obama kicked off the one-on-one stage of the election by vowing to “restore fairness and balance to our economy,” and John McCain's campaign countered by saying the Democratic nominee "doesn’t understand the...

Gated Enclaves Soar Above Indian Slums

Wealthy Indians move into posh residences to escape impoverished cities

(Newser) - Gated communities are emerging across India  to offer the country's growing group of wealthy professionals Western luxuries that the government cannot. One exclusive high-rise complex in Gurgaon, a suburb of Delhi, has its own security guards, landscaped lawns, and private school. Air conditioning, elevators, running water are all uninterrupted, while...

Gas Prices Hit Hardest in Rural Areas—not Suburbs

The South, Southwest, and upper Great Plains feel brunt of $4 fuel

(Newser) - Gas prices, which hit an all-time-high average of $4 a gallon over the weekend, are causing more pain in rural America than anywhere else, with motorists in the South, Southwest, and the upper Great Plains the hardest hit. With relatively low wages and high use of pickup trucks and vans,...

US Economy Isn't Bouncing Back
 US Economy Isn't
 Bouncing Back 
analysis
Jun 8, 2008 5:11 PM CDT

US Economy Isn't Bouncing Back

Fed cuts, stimulus package won't do the trick

(Newser) - Forget those predictions of a US economic revival in 2008, Daniel Gross writes in Newsweek. The four horsemen of the economy—credit and housing crises, food and energy prices—are getting meaner, while booming commodities and crunching credit are curbing attempts to fight back. "As a result, the consumer-driven...

Grueling Gaokao Tests China's College Seekers

Dreaded university entrance exam covers 12 years of study

(Newser) - At least 10 million high school students in China are taking the grueling gaokao, or "high test," to win a coveted spot at college. It’s a two-day ordeal that covers everything students have learned for a dozen years. It also shuts down neighborhoods, redirects traffic, and determines...

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