recession

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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
Mar 23, 2010 1:38 PM CDT

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
Mar 18, 2010 1:59 PM CDT

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
Mar 18, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

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...

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
Mar 15, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

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
Mar 11, 2010 11:36 AM CST

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
Mar 8, 2010 12:03 PM CST

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 
Mar 6, 2010 7:12 AM CST

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
Feb 24, 2010 12:21 PM CST

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...

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