As health premiums rise even the insured are spending less on care

StethoscopeOnMoney

More money is spent on health insurance but less money is spent on care.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers show more money is being spent on health insurance but less on care.  Americans are spending more money on insurance premiums, and they’re spending less out of pocket on health services. The trend doesn’t reflect patients getting more health coverage for their insurance money, experts say. It reflects patients, even those with insurance, avoiding spending cash on health care they think can be put off.

 

Continue reading… “As health premiums rise even the insured are spending less on care”

Spending on pets in the U.S. increases during recession

pampered pet

Americans will spend more than $50 billion on their animals this year.

Mary Louise Mills has a says her three dogs are spoiled rotten 9-year-old shih tzu named Annie Lulu after Mills’ grandmother, and two Pekingese — 7-year-old Miss Daisy May and 4-year-old Elmer, whom she sometimes calls Fudd.  And she says her all three of her dogs are spoiled rotten.

 

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Stress becomes number one cause of long-term absence from work

stress

Stress has become number one cause of long-term illness.

The pressure of the recession is taking it’s toll as stress becomes the number one cause of long-term absence from work for first time, figures show.  Research in almost 600 organizations also showed a link between job security and mental health issues, with employers planning redundancies ”significantly” more likely to report problems among their staff.

The aristocracy on Wall Street got $1.2 trillion in secret loans

wall street

Citigroup and Bank of America were the reigning champs of finance in 2006.

The reigning champions of finance in 2006 were Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC).   As home prices peaked, they were leading the 10 biggest U.S. banks and brokerage firms to their best year ever with $104 billion of profits.

 

Continue reading… “The aristocracy on Wall Street got $1.2 trillion in secret loans”

Toughest competition unemployed face is the underemployed

part time work

There are 8.8 million part time workers wanting full time jobs.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. is 9.1 percent but the job market is actually worse than that.  The 14 million unemployed in the U.S. aren’t just competing with each other they are also competing with the 8.8 million people that are part-timers who want full-time work.

 

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Franchising is still an option to own and operate a business

mcdonalds

McDonalds is one example of 6,000 franchise concepts offered in the United States.

Karl Dakin:  In this recession, one of the long-standing approaches to becoming a business owner is to buy a franchise. The topic of franchising was presented on Monday night at the Startup Junkie program of the DaVinci Institute. With over 6,000 franchise concepts within 40 industries currently being sold in the United States, it is quite possible for an individual to find a business that matches their passion and their pocketbook.

 

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U.S. economic uncertainty is the new normal

economic uncertainty

Many Americans are focused on bargains and careful to spend money only when they need.

Financial fears of most Americans seem to be adding to the nation’s economic woes.  The recession. The financial crisis. The housing crisis. The persistently high unemployment rate. And now, the debt debacle.  No wonder American’s feel uncertain about the U.S. economy.

 

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10 U.S. cities that will take 10 years to recover from the recession

Reno

Reno’s economy relies on gaming and tourism, two industries which have been hit extremely hard by the recession.

December 2007 is when the Great Recession officially began and it officially ended in July 2009. But that doesn’t mean the economy has returned to where it was before the steepest downturn since the Great Depression and may not for years. Employment is not expected to return to its pre-recession peak until 2014, according to a recent report by IHS Global Insight.

 

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