Construction has been hit the hardest.
Jordan Weismann of the Atlantic puts together a graph that shows how construction had the worst percentage loss of jobs in the country, over one in four jobs lost in total. He writes…
Continue reading… “Green Building is key to rebooting the economy”
Foreclosures are ramping up again, prices are coming down again.
Home prices in the U.S are right back where they were at the beginning of 2003. The effect on home ownership could continue for decades to come.
Continue reading… “Home ownerships hits new lows as home prices fall more than expected”
More than half the new jobs November were added by retailers, restaurants and bars.
Last month the economy took another step in the right direction. The jobless rate fell to the lowest since March 2009.
Continue reading… “U.S.job growth up, but they aren’t quality jobs”
Dwolla is forever changing the way credit cards are transacted.
Online and mobile payment service Dwolla has announced that all transactions under $10 will have no fee from now on. This is of course great news for small businesses and merchants whose average transaction is below that. Anything above still carries the flat $0.25 fee…
Continue reading… “Dwolla drops fees for transactions under $10 in prelude to larger announcement”
When the term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005, the Monday after Thanksgiving was the 12th biggest online shopping day of the year. That year, Facebook had 5.5 million users and Twitter didn’t exist. In 2010, Cyber Monday was the #1 biggest online shopping day of the year, with sales topping $1 billion. I believe the growth of social media and the importance of Cyber Monday are correlated because peer -to-peer sharing of deals and owned marketing channels like Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts are bringing promotions directly to where users spend their time online.
The red line is where Cyber Monday ranked among the top online shopping days (from comScore press releases) for that year. Aside from 2008, which is an outlier due the recession, there is a trend in Cyber Monday popularity growing along with Facebook users…
Continue reading… “Cyber Monday piggybacks on social media to become top online shopping day”
More money doesn’t necessarily lead to greater happiness.
Many Americans are finding reasons to be thankful this time of year despite lingering unemployment and a still sluggish economy. For some, unexpected layoffs, financial setbacks, or simply a desire to spend more time with family have served as a reality check, a wake-up call for consumers to rethink their idea of wealth and prosperity.
Continue reading… “Rethinking prosperity in America”
Mexicans sell their plasma across the U.S. border.
Two times a week, Araceli Duran closes the small store she runs from her home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and heads to what she considers “her other job.”
Continue reading… “Donors in Mexico cross the U.S. border to sell their plasma”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Warren Buffet owns many things, but so far owning his own country is not one of them.
Continue reading… “Could Warren Buffet Buy Italy?”
Yahoo! Finance conducted a new survey that shows Americans have a disturbing lack of hope and a frightening lack of retirement planning.
Continue reading… “‘American Dream’ lost according to 41% of Americans”
Economic slowdown is part of a continued drop in the mobility of all Americans.
The bad economy has caused aging Baby Boomers who dreamed of retiring in the sun near Florida beaches or Arizona deserts have hit a speed bump.
Continue reading… “Economy slows down out-of-state retirements”
This trend doesn’t paint a pretty picture.
According to analysis from economist Michael Mandel, the average wages of US college grads have experienced sharp declines in the last decade. On the other hand, college keeps getting more expensive, and the collection of student loans has become much more aggressive. Sounds like a recipe for disaster…
Continue reading… “US college grads’ salaries in steep decline”
FHA bailout looming.
With the government’s explicit guarantee of mortgages a bailout appears to be inevitable for the Federal Housing Authority. This should not be surprising news to anyone who follows the mortgage market closely, but a new study by Wharton finance professor Joseph Gyourko makes this conclusion clearer. As a bailout for the FHA looms, Congress will likely become enraged again — on behalf of the taxpayers they represent. What impact would an FHA bailout have on the housing finance policy debate?
Continue reading… “Bailout for Federal Housing Authority inevitable”
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