The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged recession

Iowa government revenue projections down due to legislative changes

By | 10.14.11 | 3:18 pm | More from The Iowa Independent

State revenue will continue to grow in the coming years, members of the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference say, but not as fast as they would like.

Colorado budget researchers say state is running out of money

By | 09.01.11 | 12:01 pm | More from The Colorado Independent

There is nowhere near enough money for Colorado to continue to do the business of the state as things stand, according to an influential team of researchers at the University of Denver. State lawmakers will either have to raise more money or cut away the kind of programs and More…

Blocked from using excess funds to cover costs, USPS can only watch as default deadline approaches

By | 05.06.11 | 12:30 pm

Image by Matt MahurinThe U.S. Postal Service is hurting. In April, The American Independent reported that it’s teetering on the brink of financial insolvency, with no obvious solution in sight. Unless something changes quickly, within five months, the USPS will default on its largest single financial obligation, an action that could have More…

America’s super-rich continue to make mind-boggling sums

By | 04.04.11 | 4:20 pm

Two recent metrics examine 2010 take-home among the super-rich — that top one-hundredth of one percent of Americans whose median household income exceeds $27 million a year, nearly 1,000 times what the bottom 90 percent of Americans make. USA Today’s CEO pay survey and a look at hedge More…

Census: Millions of livable homes stand vacant across the U.S.

By | 03.25.11 | 5:45 pm

Newly released Census data reveal that, as other evidence suggests, the recession has battered some areas harder than others. Census Bureau statistics show that 11.3 percent of residences in the U.S., about 13.2 million homes, stood vacant in 2010. There was a great deal of variation, however, among More…

Report: Immigrants Gained Jobs After the Recession

By | 10.29.10 | 1:13 pm

Interesting news from the Pew Hispanic Center: Immigrants gained 656,000 jobs in the year after the recession officially ended in June 2009, while native-born workers lost 1.2 million, according to analysis of Census and Department of Labor data.

But the results don’t mean that immigrants were spared from More…

Manufacturing Drops, Ominously

By | 10.18.10 | 3:33 pm

A piece of bad economic news: Industrial production dropped unexpectedly in September:

Output at factories, mines and utilities fell 0.2 percent, the first decline since the recession ended in June 2009, according to figures from the Fed today. Another report showed builders were less pessimistic than projected this month.

More…

Lower- and Middle-Income Americans Tighten the Purse Strings

By | 10.14.10 | 3:49 pm

A new Gallup poll shows that lower- and middle-income Americans — those making less than $90,000 a year — have tightened their purse strings yet again, facing high rates of unemployment and stagnant wages. All in all, lower- and middle-income Americans cut daily spending last month $6 from August More…

Low Immigration and the Housing Crisis

By | 10.13.10 | 1:09 pm

Another note on immigration and the economy: Fortune reported yesterday that low immigration levels are partly to blame for the high number of homes sitting vacant. As fewer immigrants move to the United States, fewer are buying and renting homes here, according to an More…

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Administration Lifts Deepwater Drilling Moratorium

By | 10.12.10 | 2:08 pm

The Obama administration announced today it is lifting the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that was imposed in the aftermath of the BP oil spill. But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave few details about how soon drilling would resume in the Gulf.

Salazar said he believes More…