News Headline

Less Bang for Buck on the Fourth

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:53:34 -0400

Fireworks may fizzle out for patriotic fans of pyrotechnic displays this fourth of July. Supplies were singed massive explosions 20 Chinese fireworks warehouses this year, and fuel prices are forcing backyard pyrotechnicians to accept less bang for their bucks.

Paulson Calls for Stronger Regulators

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:44:08 -0400

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. called on Wednesday for a new regulatory system that would prevent future financial turmoil while allowing even large financial institutions to fail without risking a wider market collapse. "Looking beyond the current market challenges of today, we need to create a resolution process that ensures the financial system can withstand the failure of a large, complex financial firm," Mr. Paulson said, during a London stop on his European tour. He said that any new regulation must give the Federal Reserve, the United States" central bank, access to information from all types of financial institutions, including investment banks, and tools that would reduce risk to the financial system without creating the sense that any troubled institution would be bailed out.

Jobs Cut for Sixth Straight Month

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:34:02 -0400

Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. The latest snapshot of business conditions, released by the Labor Department, showed continued caution on the part of employers who are chafing under high energy prices and are uncertain about how long the economy will be stuck in a sluggish mode, reflecting fallout from housing, credit and financial troubles. Heavy job losses in construction, manufacturing and financial services, along with cutbacks in retailing, eclipsed job gains in education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government.

Record Drop in Private Sector Jobs

OurFuture.org Staff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:29:33 -0400

The U.S. suffered the largest drop in employment in nearly six years in June, a sign of the deteriorating economic environment, according to a closely watched survey of business employment. Non-farm private sector employment fell by 79,000 in the month, including a 3,000 decline in service sector employment, according to the monthly ADP survey. It was the largest drop in non-government jobs and the first decline in service-sector employment since November 2002. The drop in services jobs is significant because the sector is the powerhouse of U.S. employment. Economists had been expecting the report to show a loss of 20,000 jobs.

U.N.: Globalization Requires Safety Net

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:24:34 -0400

Greater government intervention is needed to moderate the severe economic swings and inequalities that seem to be an unavoidable byproduct of globalization, according to the U.N.'s 2008 World Economic and Social Survey. The report calls for greater regulation of international capital flows, more generous foreign aid and perhaps the guarantee of a minimum income to the world's poorest residents. Domestically, countries should do more to cushion their citizens against economic changes that have left them less secure. In poor countries, the insecurity can take the form of hunger and food shortages; in developed nations it often means stagnating wages and growing income inequality. "Markets cannot be left to their own devices in respect of delivering appropriate and desired levels of economic security," the report says.

Gloomy Forecast for U.S. Workers

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:57:38 -0400

As automakers dropped their latest batch of awful sales numbers on the market, reinforcing the gloom spreading across the economy, the troubles confronting American workers seemed to intensify. Plummeting home prices have eliminated jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, from bankers and real estate agents to construction workers and furniture manufacturers. Tighter lending standards imposed by banks in the wake of huge mortgage losses have made it hard for many Americans to secure credit ' the lifeblood of expansion in recent years ' crimping the appetite of consumers, whose spending amounts to 70 percent of the economy. Joblessness has accelerated, and employers have slashed working hours even for those on their payrolls, shrinking the size of paychecks just as workers need them the most.

Troubled Economy Hits Women

OurFuture.org Staff — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:37:50 -0400

This economic downturn is taking a particularly hard toll on women, according to some experts. The reasons: Much of the downturn is focused on the real estate market, where a disproportionately large number of women work, and substantially more women than men have subprime mortgages. But experts point to another cause: Women simply earn less than men, an estimated average of 80 cents for every dollar made by a man.

Fed Loans $75 Billion to Banks

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:15:03 -0400

The U.S. central bank has auctioned a further $75 billion of short-term loans to help the financial sector. The auction, the 15th since December, is part of the Fed's attempts to help banks through the credit crunch.

Economy Top Voter Concern

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:11:32 -0400

According to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Poll 93 percent of voters say the economy is "extremely" or "very" important to their vote for president this November. 84% of the more than 900 registered voters surveyed from June 26 to 29 said the situation in Iraq was their top concern. In January, the economy was virtually tied with the Iraq war as the top concern for voters. As bad news out of Iraq has taken a back seat to dour economic news, Americans say the economy has become the issue that may decide the election in November, according to the survey.

Resets Peaking on Subprime Loans

OurFuture.org Staff — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:02:07 -0400

The number of homeowners facing an increase in their subprime adjustable-rate mortgage payments will peak this summer, testing the efforts of lenders and others to keep those people out of foreclosure and stabilize the housing market. The timing reflects the height of subprime lending in the summers of 2005 and 2006, when many borrowers secured loans scheduled to adjust in two or three years. For many, an adjustment means their interest rate will go up two to three percentage points. Lenders, federal officials and housing counselors have worried that borrowers will not be able to afford the higher payments after the reset and will quickly fall into foreclosure. Declining home prices have made it impossible for many of these homeowners to refinance.