U.S. consumers continue to struggle to pay back home equity, auto and other loans as high unemployment drags on the economy. The American Bankers Association said in a report released on Tuesday that the overall loan delinquency rate ticked up slightly for the second straight quarter. It had been dropping steadily since hitting 3.35 percent […]
The U.S. economy may finally be hitting its stride even if growth remains too weak to put a real dent in the nation’s jobless rate, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday. Offering no real clues on the future direction of monetary policy, Bernanke sounded cautiously more upbeat than he had in his most […]
The government is expected to report Friday that businesses stepped up hiring in December, a trend likely to gain momentum in 2011. Economists are predicting that employers added a net total of 145,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate dipped to 9.7 percent. Some are even more optimistic after a private payroll firm […]
The tax-cut bill President Barack Obama is expected to sign Friday renews benefits for millions of unemployed people. But it does nothing for hundreds of thousands who have been out of work so long they’ve used up all benefits available to them. In the 25 states with unemployment of at least 8.5 percent, people can […]
Newly elected members of Congress will get a reminder Friday of the economic challenges they face in January: The jobs report for October is expected to show hiring weak and unemployment still high. The outlook for 2011 isn’t much better. Economists expect the Labor Department to report that employers added just 60,000 jobs in October, […]
Boarded-up homes and empty storefronts dot the once-prosperous town of Elkhart, Indiana, where those still struggling to recover from the economic collapse of 2008 have a simple message for politicians ahead of key mid-term elections: fix the economy, stupid. While the worst economic downturn to strike the United States since the Great Depression may have […]
The U.S. economic recovery will remain slow deep into next year, held back by shoppers reluctant to spend and employers hesitant to hire, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists. The latest quarterly AP Economy Survey shows economists have turned gloomier in the past three months. They foresee weaker growth and higher unemployment […]
A House vote Thursday is expected to send President Barack Obama a long-sought measure to resume unemployment payments to millions of people whose benefits have lapsed. Obama is set to sign the bill as soon as Congress can ship it to him. The Senate broke through months of stalemate in passing the measure Wednesday by […]
For years, most people who worked for state or local governments accepted a fact of life: Their pay wasn’t great. The job security was. Now that’s gone, too. States and municipalities are facing gaping budget gaps. Many have responded by slashing services, raising taxes and, for the first time in decades, making deep job cuts. […]
A wave of census layoffs cut the nation’s payrolls in June for the first time in six months, while private employers added a modest number of jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent, its lowest level in almost a year. Employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, the most since October, the Labor Department said […]