All Articles Tagged "economic crisis"
Black Women Still Out of Work Despite Shrinking Unemployment
It may not surprise you that black women have been hit the hardest by the economic crisis. The Washington Post reports that while other segments of the nation’s unemployed are slowly starting to find work, a study from the National Women’s Law Center found that black women have lost more jobs during the recovery than they did during the recession.
The national unemployment rate declined from 9.0 percent to 8.6. percent in November; but the Bureau of Labor Statistic reported that the unemployment rate for black women actually increased from 12.6 to 12.9.
And that doesn’t include the 150,000 women who have become too discouraged to continue looking for work. (You have to actively be searching for work in order to be included in the unemployment rate.)
The only bright spot in this dismal news is that President Obama proposed a jobs bill that funds the rehiring of teachers, jobs for veterans construction jobs and job training programs for low-income young people and adults.
We’ll have to see what Congress is going to do with this one…
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The Real World Consequences of Recession Talk
(USA Today) — Feeling glum? Unsure of the future? Putting plans on hold? Hoarding cash and buying gold? Chances are your negative state of mind has a lot to do with the double-dip crowd’s Weather Channel-like warnings of another catastrophic economic storm bearing down on the USA. The drumbeat of recession talk, which gathered steam Friday after the government reported that the economy created no jobs in August, has all but cemented a recession in the minds of investors — but not necessarily the type that is measured in negative GDP, ever longer lines at the unemployment office or shrinking output at factories. At least not yet. Instead, the gloomy predictions about the economy, which is now operating at stall speed, is causing a different type of contraction: shrinking confidence.
Safety Net Withers Amid Continuing Crisis
(Wall Street Journal) — At least half the states have begun to rein in safety-net programs that swelled during the downturn, even as high unemployment and slow job growth persist. States offer a range of assistance programs such as tax credits for the working poor, unemployment benefits for the jobless and cash for low-income mothers and children. Governors from both parties have begun to make or propose cuts to these programs as they face another year of yawning budget gaps. The reductions come as the demand for social services remains high but the ability and willingness to pay for them reach their limits. Some critics of these programs see the cuts as a necessary pullback from the welfare state amid high deficits. But defenders worry about the effect on the needy at a time when the economy is losing steam.”No matter whose vision you’re studying, they all realize we’re going to have less spending,” said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who helped draft the 1996 welfare-overhaul law as a Republican congressional staff member. “There could be more cutting if the economy doesn’t start behaving better.”
Economy Drives Increase in Homeless Count
(Afro) — High rates of unemployment among minorities, foreclosures, the rising cost of rent, utilities and fuel and extreme budget cuts are behind a rise in the area’s homeless population, local homeless advocates say. An upcoming report by the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments indicates the Washington region’s homeless has increased to 11,988 persons, mostly among families and African Americans, and that’s largely due to the hobbled economy. Jewel Stroman, 22, stands outside a temporary housing facility in Northwest D.C. with her daughter, hoping one day for a place to call her own. Hamilton Jones, 47, a researcher, writer and former substance abuser has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Jones survives on a meager income of $20 a week and $200 in monthly food stamps.
The American Dream, Unraveled
(Washington Post) — Chrissanda Walker’s bourbon-glazed chicken is just out of the oven. The bread pudding is finished. The collard greens worry her, though; she doesn’t want to overcook them. Walker looks at the clock. It’s 10 a.m. She’s been on her feet since 6. Walker used to make $100,000 a year as a nursing home executive until she lost her job a year and a half ago. Unable to find a new one, she shed her business suits and high heels and put on an apron and soft-soled shoes. This year, she and her daughter are living on $11,000: her unemployment benefits plus whatever she can earn selling home-cooked dinners for $10 apiece.
Small Business: Still Waiting for Recovery
(Businessweek) — The recovery that began in the middle of last year hasn’t reached small businesses yet. While corporate profits approach pre-recession levels, income at small private companies is recovering much more slowly, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Proprietors’ income—the profits of unincorporated businesses such as partnerships or individuals who work for themselves—is down nearly 5 percent from two years ago, while corporate profits have jumped 21 percent in that period, the BEA reports. The uneven recovery of small companies stems partly from the diverging fortunes of the U.S. and faster-growing countries. Many big corporations are seeing strong sales from their overseas operations while smaller companies tend to sell primarily to customers in the U.S., says Drew White, chief financial officer at accounting software company Sageworks, which collects and analyzes financial data from hundreds of thousands of private companies. “Small businesses are probably going to get revenue later in the business cycle than the big businesses that are exporting to growing markets internationally,” White says. “[Large companies] have the ability to shift markets if they see demand.”
Rumblings of Inflation Grow Louder
(LA Times) — Be it a bushel of wheat from Kansas, a ton of rice from India or a barrel of crude from Saudi Arabia, prices for all manner of commodities are on the rise across the globe, a trend that is starting to pinch American consumers. On Tuesday prices of many raw materials continued to surge, with gold, cotton and sugar reaching record highs. A closely watched index of 19 major commodities closed at a two-year high, despite a late-day sell-off in gold and oil. The effects are rippling from financial trading floors to local stores, forcing consumers to shell out more for everyday basics — a cup of coffee, a box of cereal, a gallon of gasoline.
African-American Faith Community and the Economic Crisis
(Tri State Defender) “Debt is a bigger problem than racism,” pastor DeForest Soaries says emphatically at the top of “Almighty Debt”. CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien reports for a 90-minute documentary investigation into the creative and proactive ways an African-American faith community is addressing the challenges of the national economic crisis, followed by a 30-minute dynamic forum. For the documentary, O’Brien follows a student facing a mountain of debt to finance his education, a married couple facing the stresses of an over-leveraged mortgage and credit card debt, another couple struggling following the loss of a job and the income and self-esteem that come with unemployment.
Washington Firms Soak Up Stimulus
(WSJ) — The economic-stimulus package has meant big business for Washington, D.C., and federal contractors around the capital’s Beltway.
More than $3.7 billion of stimulus contracts, grants and loans have gone to recipients in the District of Columbia and two adjacent congressional districts—Maryland’s 8th District and Virginia’s 8th District. That amounts to nearly $2,000 for every resident—nearly three times the national average, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of reports filed by recipients.
More than $2.2 billion of the stimulus money awarded to the Washington area has gone to private firms, many of which are helping federal agencies with the administrative work generated by the sprawling effort: deciding how to award funds, drawing up contracts and monitoring and auditing spending. Some help federal agencies with their internal monitoring systems and public-relations efforts.
Crisis 'Hollowing Out' Middle-Class Work Force
(Chicago Sun Times) — United Airways ground crew worker Anthony Sepe took a 30 percent pay cut, saw his home in Lombard lose as much as $85,000 in value, and watched in horror as his retirement savings “took a beating.”
But among the millions of middle-class Chicago area residents who’ve lost out in the recession, the 38-year-old father of two is relatively lucky.
