recession

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Spendthrift Generation Y: Screwed and Oblivious
Spendthrift Generation Y:
Screwed and Oblivious
What economy?

Spendthrift Generation Y: Screwed and Oblivious

Lost generation doesn't realize it's a loser

(Newser) - Economically, things are very, very bad for Generation Y, but the hipster cohort doesn't seem to have noticed. A whopping 37% of 18-to-29-year-olds are underemployed, the worst figure any age group has seen in over 30 years. Nearly 70% aren't building up a cash cushion, and they're drowning in credit...

Texas Thrives, Thanks to Regulation and ... Windmills?

An unexpected tale of economic success

(Newser) - Don't look now, but Texas's economy is in pretty great shape, and it's all thanks to alternative energy and regulation. Strange but true. Daniel Gross of Slate breaks down the reasons things are bigger in Texas:
  • The housing market hasn't utterly imploded like the rest of the nation's—prices are
...

In Recession, Curves Are Beautiful
 In Recession, 
 Curves Are Beautiful 
STUDY OF PLAYMATES FINDS

In Recession, Curves Are Beautiful

Tough times add weight to Americans' ideal beauty

(Newser) - During recessions, Americans’ idea of female beauty has more curves. That’s according to a pair of studies, which compared the waist, bust and other measurements of popular actresses and Playboy Playmates to yearly economic data. And in down cycles, the extra few inches associated with maturity and strength are...

Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye
 Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye 

Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye

For those who can't remember 1981, rates are headed up

(Newser) - There's a generation of consumers out there that can't fathom 8% interest, much less 1981's peak of 18.2%, but the days of free or cheap money are coming to a rapid close. With national debt ballooning, inflation looming, and government props that suppressed interest rates ending, the cost of...

As Sales Slump, Wal-Mart Cuts Prices

Watchers see ploy to hold on to middle class post-recession

(Newser) - Wal-Mart will discount around 10,000 items in the face of dipping sales, even as other retailers report increases in business. The move could be a ploy to hang on to middle-class shoppers, who flocked to the big-box behemoth in the depths of the recession but have been upgrading as...

'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill Our Recovery
'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill
Our Recovery
paul krugman

'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill Our Recovery

Beware the 'tight-money people' who fear short-term spending

(Newser) - Paul Krugman assesses the economic mess in Greece and sees "no good answers" for them but an important lesson for America. Namely, "steer clear of deflation," a horrible process that Greece must now endure because it's stuck with the euro. We don't have that problem, so let's...

Greenspan: We Did 'the Best We Could'

Former Fed chief takes heat on Capitol Hill

(Newser) - Alan Greenspan is taking more heat on Capitol Hill today as a three-day series of hearings begins on the economic meltdown. “What we tried to do was the best we could with the data that we had,” the former Fed chief told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. “...

New Jobs Bring Out New Job Seekers— and Boost Unemployment

Administration says trend is positive, if counterintuitive

(Newser) - As the economy generates more jobs, giving hope to previously “discouraged” workers, the jobless rate could actually spike instead of declining, the Washington Post reports. Still, what's happening in the economy is good, the White House says, laying the groundwork for the likelihood that job creation will lag behind...

Employers Add Jobs in March
 Employers Add Jobs in March 

Employers Add Jobs in March

Increase of 162K keeps unemployment rate at 9.7%

(Newser) - The Labor Department delivered expected good news on the jobs front this morning: Employers added 162,000 jobs in March, the biggest monthly increase in 3 years. The gain, however, wasn't big enough to change the unemployment rate, which remained at 9.7% for the third straight month.

Obama Starting to Take Blame for Economy
Obama Starting to Take Blame for Economy
Poll Numbers

Obama Starting to Take Blame for Economy

More fault him, and 50% say he doesn't deserve re-election

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s health care victory doesn't seem to have helped him with voters struggling in the recession. (The president isn't much bothered by the early polls.) In a new USA Today/Gallup poll, roughly 50% said Obama deserved at least some blame for the economy, with 26% saying he...

Half of States Still In Recession

Economies shrunk in 25 states over the last 3 months

(Newser) - Many Americans can’t seem to believe the recession is over, and there’s a very good reason for that: For them, it isn’t. Over the past month, 21 states saw their economies grow, while 22 saw it shrink—that number jumps to 25 if you look at the...

Advice on How to Live Cheaply, Simply Is Thriving

Books, blogs popular in recession

(Newser) - What with the recession, worldwide poverty, and impending environmental doom, it’s no wonder that bookshelves and the blogosphere are crammed with tales of voluntary privation and experiments in skimp. Last month there was On a Dollar a Day, about a couple's attempt to live on that amount—in San ...

Top F***ing Books About the Financial Crisis

Maybe all the profanity will keep you reading

(Newser) - There are so many books about the financial crisis, how does one choose which to read first? One method: Go for the one with the most instances of the word “f---.” Conveniently enough, Paul Kedrosky has assembled a handy list. Not big on the idea of the f-word...

Teens Are Spending Again at the Mall

Sales are up, a promising sign for recovery

(Newser) - One of the retail industry's best friends is back: the teenage mall shopper. For two straight months, stores that cater to young consumers have beat sales expectations. One of the leaders, Abercrombie & Fitch, even snapped a 20-month streak in the red by posting an 8% sales increase in January....

Social Security to Take In Less Than It Pays Out in 2010

Payouts exceeding revenue 6 years ahead of predictions

(Newser) - The recession has battered Social Security, too: The program will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes this year, says the Congressional Budget Office. The system hadn't been expected to reach its "tipping point" until 2016. The change will have no effect on benefits, but...

Boom in Skin Care Sales Signals Economic Rebound
Boom in Skin Care Sales Signals Economic Rebound
green shoots

Boom in Skin Care Sales Signals Economic Rebound

This from today's 'bizarre correlations' department

(Newser) - Turns out skin care is an economic bellwether—so you should be happy to hear that sales are picking up. Women were slow to skimp on, say, moisturizer even as sales of makeup and perfume declined, but in 2009 skin care sales finally fell by 4%, according to new research....

More Sexual Harassment Claims Being Filed—by Men

Recession pushes laid-off guys to sue

(Newser) - A growing number of men are filing sexual harassment claims, probably thanks in part to a recession that has hit men especially hard. Roughly 16.4% of all sexual harassment claims now come from men, compared to 15.4% in 2006, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Most of...

American Dream Believers Plummeting
 American Dream 
 Believers Plummeting 
ZOGBY POLL

American Dream Believers Plummeting

Hopeful responses to Zogby poll fall off dramatically from last year

(Newser) - Just 57% of Americans think the “American Dream” is achievable today, down 10 points from around a year ago and from 76% in July of 2001, pollster John Zogby writes. He splits “American Dreamers” into four categories: Traditional Materialists, Secular Spiritualists, Deferred Dreamers, and Dreamless Dead. Over the...

More Americans Living With Mom and/or Dad

Struggling economy leads kids back to empty nest, and retirees to kids

(Newser) - Even President Obama is in on this trend: A record number of Americans are living in multigenerational households as the recession forces young adults and retirees alike to move in with family. After 40 years of such households declining—from 25% in 1940 to just 12% in 1980—they’re...

Hipster Defends Using Food Stamps

 Hipster Defends 
 Using Food Stamps 
OPINION

Hipster Defends Using Food Stamps

Why the backlash over access to healthy food?

(Newser) - There's been quite the backlash against hipsters buying fancy organic fare with their food stamps, but one such hipster argues that “cheap food is the real extravagance.” Gerry Mak—a subject of the recent Salon article —points out that "a whole rabbit at Lexington Market is...

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