recession

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Hipster Foodies Turn to Food Stamps

Stimulus package makes more young people eligible for benefits

(Newser) - Food stamps are for the poor, no matter if you’re a single mother or a destitute hipster. Salon checks in on the growing number of young, unemployed, college-educated foodies who qualify for stamps and use them for organic delicacies along with staples. One UChicago grad says he “used...

Battered Middle Class Reports Struggling, Stalling
Battered Middle Class Reports Struggling, Stalling
Poll Numbers

Battered Middle Class Reports Struggling, Stalling

Those with college educations doing far better than others

(Newser) - The middle class is feeling the pinch. Of the 45% of Americans who consider themselves middle class—a fraction that's pretty much held steady for 4 decades—four in 10 say they’re struggling to remain there, according to a new ABC News poll. The biggest factor: education. Among those...

Dr. Doom Fears a Double Dip Recession
Dr. Doom Fears a Double Dip Recession
Nouriel Roubini

Dr. Doom Fears a Double Dip Recession

Roubini thinks macro data contradict cheery recovery theories

(Newser) - There’s a debate raging over whether the US will recover quickly or undergo a painful double-dip recession . Guess which side eternal pessimist Nouriel Roubini is on? Dr. Doom doesn’t like the macroeconomic numbers he’s seeing. The horrendous consumer confidence, housing and employment numbers “actually suggest a...

Why Obama's Still the Fave for 2012

Incumbency carries plenty of advantages

(Newser) - Sure, things look glum for President Obama, but he’s still the odds-on favorite to win the 2012 presidential election. Carl Cannon tells us why:
  • A “generic Republican” doesn’t exist. Obama trails that very thing by double digits in a recent poll, but the GOP nominee will bring
...

Coupon Clippers Go Crazy, Turn Competitive
 Coupon Clippers Go Crazy, 
 Turn Competitive 
RECESSIONOMICS

Coupon Clippers Go Crazy, Turn Competitive

Tough times drive many to save big, buy in bulk

(Newser) - While the recession has left many cupboards bare, others are sagging as the cash-strapped turn into coupon-wielding obsessives who stock up on months or years worth of groceries on the cheap. While coupon usage peaked in the '90s, it surged 27% last year—mainly due to extreme coupon users, reports...

Cash-Strapped School Districts Go to 4-Day Week

Parents, workers miffed, but effect on student learning is unclear

(Newser) - As school districts across the nation find themselves battling massive budget shortfalls, some are turning to the relatively rare but controversial practice of shortening the school week. Four-day weeks usually don’t affect teacher pay or the amount of classroom time for students, as the days are simply lengthened. But...

Arizona Dem: Congress, We Need a Paycut

Ann Kirkpatrick wants to take $8,700 hit—first since Depression

(Newser) - Many lawmakers are calling on Congress to once again forego its annual raise, but Arizona Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick is taking things a step further, proposing an $8,700 pay cut. That would amount to 5% of a House member’s base salary of $174,000, and $4.7 million in...

Top Cities Beating the Recession

DC is No. 1, but Texas has a bunch in the top 10

(Newser) - The number-crunchers at Forbes have come up with a list of the top cities where the recession is easing. The formula takes into account projected job growth and housing prices. Here's the list:
  1. (tie) Washington, DC-Arlington-Alexandria
  2. (tie) Austin-Round Rock
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
  4. (tie) Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
  5. (tie) Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown

FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks
FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks 

FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks

Tally hits 26 this year; pace of closures expected to increase in coming months

(Newser) - Regulators yesterday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of US bank failures so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults. The pace of bank seizures this year is likely to accelerate , FDIC officials have said, as...

Unemployed Professionals Vie for Census Jobs

Applicant pool for 2010 temp jobs is unusually qualified

(Newser) - For the Census Bureau, the recession is good news: With unemployment near 10%, professionals with advanced degrees are applying for temporary census jobs in droves. The bureau will hire at least 700,000 people in the spring and summer to make house calls on census laggards and perform organizational tasks....

Recession Tips From the Rich
 Recession Tips From the Rich 
use less gas...on your yacht

Recession Tips From the Rich

Yacht fuel eating up too much of your budget? You're not alone.

(Newser) - Still looking for ways to cut costs in these tough economic times? Let these actual rich people, as overheard by Nell Scovell, guide you. She recounts their advice in Vanity Fair :
  • “With diesel at the marina up over $3 a gallon, we’re trying to keep the Hinckley’s
...

US Bank Lending Falls at Fastest Rate in History

Figures spark renewed fears that feds are at a loss

(Newser) - The US bank lending rate has fallen its fastest in history, sparking renewed fears that the government hasn't done enough to prop up the economy and that America's troubles are far from over. Lending has plummeted $100 billion just since January, which amounts to a 16% annualized drop. Some $740...

MTV Tunes Recession Chic With New 16 and Pregnant

Down-to-earth shows much more in tune than 'Hills' et al.

(Newser) - MTV is definitely hip to the recession, with the proof no further than the new season of 16 and Pregnant , airing tonight. That show, plus others like Jersey Shore, show that “audiences seem to have tired of the contrived dramas” of The Hills or The City, “and the...

We Need to Fend Off the Recession's Social Blows
We Need to Fend Off the Recession's Social Blows
DAVID BROOKS

We Need to Fend Off the Recession's Social Blows

Men have been hit hardest by high unemployment, writes David Brooks

(Newser) - America is facing a period of prolonged high unemployment that will require a strong response to stop the bonds of society from breaking, writes David Brooks. The recession's biggest impact has been on men, Brooks writes, noting that the gap between male and female unemployment is at its highest since...

Unemployment Falls to 9.7%
 Unemployment Falls to 9.7% 

Unemployment Falls to 9.7%

It's the first time it's been under 10% in 4 months

(Newser) - The nation's unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 9.7% in January, the Labor Department said today. The drop from 10% comes even as US employers cut another 20,000 jobs. The rate dropped because a survey of households found the number of employed Americans rose by 541,000. Overall, however,...

US Expected to Report 5K New Jobs

Economy adds jobs, but more than expected were lost

(Newser) - January was the second month since the recession began in December 2007 that payrolls grew instead of fell, the Labor Department is expected to say in a report due out today. Some 5,000 new jobs were likely added last month, reports Reuters . Close to 4,000 jobs were added...

Sin City Seethes Over 2nd Obama Diss

Vegas defenders: This time sorry isn't good enough

(Newser) - When President Obama said yesterday that families saving for college shouldn't blow money in Vegas, it was the second time he'd singled out Sin City as an example of excessive spending—and his words came as salt in the wounds of a tourism-dependent city hit hard by the recession. "...

Nonprofits Under Pressure: Merge or Die

Boom spawned many small charities now forced to close doors

(Newser) - The recession is ravaging the nonprofit sector, forcing many to consolidate or disappear, even as demand for their services rises. Over the past 15 years, the number of registered nonprofits doubled to 1.5 million organizations. Now, as funds dwindle—private donations fell 6% throughout the sector in 2008, their...

Larry Summers Coins a Phrase
 Larry Summers Coins a Phrase 

Larry Summers Coins a Phrase

US experiencing a 'statistical recovery and a human recession'

(Newser) - The Wall Street Journal is taken with a phrase uttered by Larry Summers today at the Davos economic summit. The US is experiencing a "statistical recovery and a human recession," said the Obama economic adviser. The phrase "should resonate through much of the industrial world, where high...

Economy Growing at Fastest Pace Since 2003

Last quarter of 2009 saw GDP growth of 5.7%

(Newser) - The US economy grew for a second straight quarter from October through December, posting a better-than-expected 5.7% annual rate—the fastest quarterly pace since 2003. The Commerce Department report is the strongest evidence to date that the worst recession since the 1930s ended last year, though an academic panel...

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