After the recession, many Americans began cutting back and slowly chipping away at their household debt. Unfortunately, this noble effort seems to have tapered off, according to a new University of Michigan study. In fact, according to the study, one in every five households now owes more in credit cards, medical bills, student loans and other debt than they have in savings and liquid assets. The proportion of families without any savings at all rose last year to 23.4%. In 2009, it was at 18.5%.
While America’s leading tech companies (again) top the annual list of popular employers for soon-to-be graduates, you may be surprised at three companies that rose from the grave of popular opinion in 2012.
The American Dream of home ownership has taken some hits in the recession. But it remains alive and well, though with some twists that will help shape the nature of the budding housing recovery.
Millionaire households in the U.S. are rising again, largely because the mass affluent stayed the course with their stocks during the downturn and are reaping the benefits of the market’s recovery. But frugality also played a big role.
Recent research suggests that a major, news-making recession can actually be good for marriages.
There has been an especially sharp rise in online shopping during the first couple of months in 2012—a time period that just so happens to coincide with an unusual spike in gas prices.
Most states haven’t hit the $4 mark for a gallon of regular. Nonetheless, gas prices around the country have soared for four weeks in a row, at a pace that would mean $5 per gallon in many states by the start of summer.
It has been an especially good month for car sales from two American automakers, Ford and Chrysler. The latter’s sales are up 27%, compared with February 2011.
Throughout the worst of the economic crisis and a post-recession era bogged down by uncertainty and high unemployment, consumer spending on pets remained strong. In surveys, owners said they refused to spending on their dogs during tough times, and overall pet spending seemed to increase by at least 5% annually like clockwork. Recently, though, signs [...]
Buy a new car, and the odds are getting better and better that you’ll still have it when it’s an old car. Not long ago, after buying a car new, the average driver kept it for four years before selling it or trading it for another model. Today, though, the average “flip time” for hanging [...]
If you still go to the movies fairly regularly, you’re in the minority, according to a new survey.
