The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to its lowest level since April 2008, extending a downward trend that shows the job market strengthening. First-time applications for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 364,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the third straight weekly drop.
The economy is ending 2011 on a roll. The job market is healthier. Americans are spending lustily on holiday gifts. A long-awaited turnaround for the depressed housing industry may be under way. Gas is cheaper. Factories are busier. Stocks are higher.
Americans' economic health appears to be edging closer to code red: The Consumer Distress Index fell sharply in the third quarter, indicating that more of us are falling behind financially.
Unemployment remains high. The housing crisis has chipped away at consumer confidence. Commodities costs have pushed prices upward. Yet there are signs the economic picture might be getting better for some Americans -- which means businesses could start working harder to get us to start spending again.
Many European nations have deficits that make the U.S. look thrifty, and over a year after their problems came to light, they're still holding the worldwide recovery back. But because they share the euro, normal solutions aren't available, which means the EU must bite the bullet and accept an orderly default, or watch matters spiral downward.
What's going to fix the economy? An entrepreneurial spirit, a free market, and the infrastructure to bring them together to bear fruit will help the U.S. pull through. But what we really need are three things that on the surface seem less concrete than new tax laws and regulatory changes: certainty, innovation, and, most importantly, time.
September is finally over, and we're heading into a few fast weeks of economic data and earnings releases. With stock market and macroeconomic factors taking new twists nearly every day, it's hard to keep up. So let's focus on the data and news that will matter most to your bottom line.
Here's the good news: American consumers are finally starting to reduce their reliance on credit and pay off their high-interest debt -- a positive development for their financial futures. The bad news: More money in people's pockets means less overall spending in the economy, which desperately needs the cash right now. How might the tension be resolved?
GM is expected to show a sales increase of 15.3% from a year ago when it posts August numbers later this week, according to auto industry research firm Edmunds. That would be an improvement of 30,000 cars and light trucks and would eclipse the unit gains of its smaller rivals.
In addition to chasing down answers to our readers' questions, we love to hear about your firsthand experiences with weathering this economic storm. And when we asked "Will you be better off next year?" at least one reader weighed in with a resounding "Yes!"
As President Obama took part in his first-ever Twitter-facilitated town hall, jobs and the economy were high on the agenda. In line with those themes, the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute held a little get-together of its own to outline 10 key facts about the recovery and what's really wrong with the economy.
Is the American recovery fast or slow? Depends on who you ask. The Wall Street Journal sees corporate America merrily rolling along while Main Street suffers. The New York Times warns that Wall Street is about to feel the pinch too. But nobody is all that optimistic about Greece today.
A growing inclination among Americans to change their vacation plans shows that the slowing economy is taking a toll on consumer confidence. A new survey found that 45% of workers who have taken or plan to take a vacation this summer "would reduce or cancel their plans to save money if the economy continues its volatility."
In a new article, political scientist Ian Bremmer and economist Nouriel Roubini assert that the free-market system of capitalism has been so damaged by the recent financial crisis that the West's era of political and economic dominance may be gone for good.
For decades, the world took its cues from American consumers when it came to tastes, styles and prices. No longer. The Great Recession has brought a dramatic realignment from the U.S. to China and India, and that change is already sparking new business strategies in global companies.
