On the most recent season debut of American Idol, viewers watched as a 24-year-old from Tennessee named Amy Brumfield won a golden ticket to Hollywood. Besides her soulful rendition of an Alicia Keys song, what made Brumfield stand out from the pack is that she lives in a tent in the woods with her boyfriend and dog. “We can’t afford a $100-a-week hotel room, you know,” said Brumfield. “The only thing we can do is live in a tent in the woods and cook soup over a fire.”
According to U.S. Census data, 48.6% of the population lived in a household that received some form of government aid in the second quarter of 2010, which rose slightly from the previous quarter — another sign of how dependent on federal aid Americans have grown during the Great Recession.
Shares with above-average yields and rising dividends may well offer the best returns in 2012.
The U.S. Mint circulated more quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies last year. And that’s a good thing. Coin shipments from the Mint finally increased — by 37%, which means that less people are digging around their own homes for dimes and nickels.
Companies are hiring again. That’s the good news. The bad news is those hires might not be coming fast enough.
The U.S. auto industry is revving its engine heading into the new year. The three largest domestic carmakers posted strong gains to close out 2011 in another sign that the U.S. economy is coming back to life following the Great Recession. Chrysler led the pack, reporting a 26% jump in sales highlighted by its best [...]
Day to day, the stock market may feel like a roller-coaster, but in fact the U.S. is experiencing stagnation with a very, very faint upward trend.
U.S. stock prices jumped higher on the first trading day of 2012 after new economic data showed gains in construction and manufacturing activity. Meanwhile, oil prices surged amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which has threatened to close the strategically important Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.
Just when we were expecting the economy to go boom it went zoom. The unemployment rate in November dropped faster than it has in more than 11 years.
The recovery is back! Or maybe not. On Thursday morning, the U.S. Commerce Department said the nation’s gross domestic product rose 2.5% in the third quarter, nearly double the 1.3% rate it had risen in the quarter before. And the growth was far better than many economists thought it would be just a few months ago. [...]
If the economic situation we’re living in is not a recession, and it’s not exactly a recovery either—not a robust one, anyway—what is it?
