unemployment benefits

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US Aid Rules Perplex Needy in Downturn

(Newser) - Hobbled by the recession, millions of Americans are struggling to navigate benefit programs that dispense aid in often arbitrary and frustrating ways, the New York Times reports. In many cases, it's all about geography. Need food stamps? It's better to live in Missouri than California. Unemployment? The lucky live in...

Layoffs Slow as Unemployment Hits 8.9%, Worst Since '83

539K positions cut; jobless rate hits 8.9%, highest since 1983

(Newser) - The pace of layoffs slowed in April when US employers cut 539,000 jobs, the fewest in 6 months; economists had expected 620,000 job cuts. But the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9%, the highest since late 1983, as many businesses remain wary of hiring in a climate of...

Europe's Jobless Thrive as US Counterparts Struggle

European safety nets make joblessness easier, recovery more difficult

(Newser) - On either side of the Atlantic, different narratives are playing out among the unemployed, the Wall Street Journal reports. While Americans left jobless by the recession struggle to pay insurance and bills, Europe’s social safety nets provide many with the majority of their former incomes and cover health-care costs....

3 Million US Job Openings Isn't a Good Thing
3 Million US Job Openings Isn't
a Good Thing
ANALYSIS
May 1, 2009 2:26 PM CDT

3 Million US Job Openings Isn't a Good Thing

Figure shows troubling disconnect between employers, workers

(Newser) - Even with the unemployment rate shattering records, 3 million jobs nationwide remain unfilled. But the growing mismatch between employers and workers tarnishes that silver lining, Peter Coy argues in BusinessWeek. Untrained job-seekers often don’t have necessary skills to work in growing sectors like health care and accounting, and employers...

Amish Finally Cotton to Unemployment Checks

Church elders ease restrictions to help workers weather recession

(Newser) - Some Amish have decided unemployment benefits are one modern invention they can’t afford to shun, reports the Los Angeles Times. The shrinking supply of affordable farmland has forced a growing number of Amish men into factory work in recent years, and church elders relented on restrictions on government aid...

Texas Gov Gets Grief Over Stimulus Rejection

(Newser) - The fallout from Texas Gov. Rick Perry's rejection of $555 million in stimulus funds for unemployment benefits could threaten his re-election bid—but as other politicians cave to public pressure, Perry has yet to waver, NPR reports. "Everything's going to be viewed through that prism," says the editor...

Europe's New Temp Worker Class Bears Recession Brunt

(Newser) - The new class of temporary workers created by European labor reform is suffering most in the current wave of job cuts, the Wall Street Journal reports, testing the new policies amid the threat of backlash. Short-term employees—easier and cheaper to fire than permanent ones—also get fewer unemployment benefits,...

Unemployed Furious at Contrarian Govs

Constituents fear losing out on stimulus dollars over politics

(Newser) - Opposing the stimulus’ expansion of unemployment benefits may be good PR, but there’s one constituency it’s not playing well with: unemployed people. “It just seems unreasonable,” one jobless Texan tells the New York Times, “that when people probably need the help the most, that because...

Jobless Claims Set Another Record

626,000 claims filed last week, far more than expected

(Newser) - New jobless claims jumped far more than expected last week in an already dismal labor market, and there's no relief in sight for workers as mass layoffs persist. The Labor Department reports that the number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week to 626,000 from the previous...

What the Stimulus Package Would Get Us

$800 billion, $647-page tome means big gov't again

(Newser) - President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus plan—which stood at 647 pages when it passed the House last week—signals a return to “unabashed” big government, the Los Angeles Times reports. Here’s what it means:
  • For the next 2 years, individuals making under $75,000 will get a
...

Hooters Boots Battered Waitress Over Bruises

Injuries violated restaurant's 'all-American cheerleader look'

(Newser) - An Iowa judge has awarded unemployment benefits to an assaulted Hooters waitress who says she was fired because her bruised "body wasn't up to par." Managers testified that the black eye and facial bruising Sara Dye suffered in a domestic violence dispute violated the company-mandated "glamorous appearance"...

Welfare Rolls Rising for First Time Since '90s

Tide of middle-class jobless could seriously strain program

(Newser) - Welfare numbers are rising in many states for the first time since public assistance was redefined more than a decade ago, the Washington Post reports. The numbers are still small compared to the days before welfare was retooled to steer people into jobs, but at least a dozen states say...

States Running Out of Cash for Jobless Benefits

Many cut taxes, weren't prepare for down turn

(Newser) - The ranks of the unemployed reached their highest levels since 1982 last week, and about 30 states are running out of money to fund them, the New York Times reports. Some states, including Indiana and Michigan, are already borrowing heavily from the federal government to keep up with jobless benefits,...

Jobless Claims Hit 26-Year High

338,000 more people claimed benefits last week

(Newser) - Some 58,000 jobless Americans filed their first request for unemployment benefits last week, pushing both the number of first-time filers (573,000) and number of people collecting benefits (4.43 million) to 26-year highs, MarketWatch reports. The post-Thanksgiving week is traditionally high in first-time claims, but rapid layoffs and...

Putin Promises to Help Sliding Russian Economy

With many paychecks weeks behind, crisis reminds nation of '90s collapse

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin proposed steps yesterday to stabilize the Russian economy as layoffs and deferred wages cause rising insecurity about the nation’s finances, the Wall Street Journal reports. Russian firms now owe $145 million in delayed wages to 300,000 people, and those figures may actually be higher—a fifth...

Enough about the Deficit: It's Time to Spend
Enough about the Deficit: It's Time to Spend
OPINION
Oct 17, 2008 10:32 AM CDT

Enough about the Deficit: It's Time to Spend

The Fed can't help much, but the government can

(Newser) - Volatile markets rule the headlines, but the imperiled nonfinancial economy is more worrisome, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. The way to get that rolling again, contrary to what John McCain said in Wednesday’s presidential debate, is to ignore the deficit and increase government spending. As retail...

Unemployment Funds Could Dry Up

Growing ranks of jobless stressing states' abilities to help

(Newser) - At least 10 states have less than six months worth of unemployment benefit reserves and could run out of cash early in 2009, reports CNN. The national unemployment level is currently at 6.1%—the highest since 2001—and is expected to keep climbing. Economists say states should have packed...

GDP Grew More in Q2 Than First Reported
GDP Grew More in Q2
Than First Reported
Economy
Aug 28, 2008 12:06 PM CDT

GDP Grew More in Q2 Than First Reported

Commerce Department revision shows healthier growth

(Newser) - GDP growth was higher than initially reported in the second quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Commerce Department revisions put the increase at a seasonally adjusted 3.3% annual rate—the original estimate was 1.9%. Businesses decreased their inventories less than previously thought. At the same time, exports rose...

Party Leaders in House Reach Deal on War Funds

Bipartisan agreement allocates $163B for Iraq, Afghanistan through early 2009

(Newser) - A two-year fight between the White House and Democrats over war funding has been resolved, the New York Times reports. House leaders reached a deal to allocate $163 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through early next year. The measure, expected to be approved by the full House...

House Votes to Extend Jobless Benefits

But measure faces rough road in Senate, White House

(Newser) - The House today approved an extra three months of jobless benefits for all unemployed Americans, knowing the plan's chances are slight in the Senate. After failing to get a veto-proof two-thirds margin by three votes yesterday, Democrats got an exact two-thirds margin with a 274-137 vote—the amount needed to...

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