September 3, 2012 |By Rob Tornoe This is commentary from political blogger and cartoonist Rob Tornoe. As we celebrate Labor Day by grilling burgers and throwing back some beers, consider this: one in four households in New Jersey live one emergency away from falling into poverty. That’s the finding of the United Way of Northern New Jersey, which released the results of an unprecedented five-year study that tries to shine a giant spotlight on the status of the state’s working poor. According to its ALICE study, an acronym for Asset Limited Income Constrained, and Employed, 1.1 million New Jersey households [ Read More ]
By Ed Beeson/The Star-Ledger Starting Saturday, more than 26,000 out-of-work New Jerseyans who have been searching for a job the longest will have a safety net yanked out from under them. The same prospect is looming for 100,000 more as federal unemployment benefits are due to expire by the end of the year. Because of a quirk in federal law and the state’s slowly improving employment picture, so-called extended benefits for New Jersey’s jobless will stop Saturday. These benefits cover people who have been out of work and collecting unemployment for between 79 weeks and 99 weeks. But ultimately, the [ Read More ]
(Reuters) – Small businesses in June reported cuts to their staff for the first time this year, the National Federation of Independent Business said on Thursday in the latest sign the economy has lost a step. A survey by the NFIB of 740 small businesses found that the seasonally adjusted average change in employment per firm fell by 0.11 in the three months through June after being flat in the period through May. The reading has not been negative since December. “The figures suggest that job creation has been very weak,” said NFIB economist William Dunkelberg. The survey, which was [ Read More ]
By MOTOKO RICH Published: June 9, 2012 | NY Times PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — This retirement oasis in the desert has long beckoned those who want to spin out their golden years playing golf and sitting by the pool in the arid sunshine. But for Clare Keany, who turned 62 last fall and cannot find work, it feels more like a prison. Just a few miles from the gated estates of corporate chieftains and Hollywood stars, Ms. Keany lives in a tiny mobile home, barely getting by on little more than $1,082 a month from Social Security. “I would rather [ Read More ]
By Ed Beeson/The Star-Ledger | NJ.com Call it a warm winter hangover. Friday’s news that the U.S. economy added only 120,000 jobs in March disappointed economists and investors who were expecting employment gains closer to 205,000. But one of the theories that emerged to explain the sudden drop-off was that the mild winter spurred hiring in some sectors — construction, retail sales and temporary help — so much so that employers felt they didn’t need to add more to their rosters last month. “This could be a bit of a payback for it,” Anika Khan, an economist with Wells Fargo, [ Read More ]
Thanks to billionaire’s legal battle, we now know a lot more about how the super-rich work With his long limbs and delicate gait, Lord Mandelson could no doubt manage a quite convincing turn in Thunderbirds. He’d find Jeff Tracy most convivial: a billionaire astronaut with his own Pacific island, and now, it seems, he even has his own camera-shy friend to pull the strings. According to the High Court, Nathaniel Rothschild, scion of the banking dynasty and friend of seemingly everyone in the spheres of finance, business and politics, is indeed “puppet master” to the Baron of Hartlepool and Foy. [ Read More ]
Source: www.beaconequity.com Trends Research Institute founder Gerald Celente predicts that a war with Iran is scheduled to cover up the next leg down to the financial collapse of the U.S. and political upheaval a collapse engenders. “I’ve been in this business now since 1980, and I’m always marveled at the schemes undreamed of that they come up with,” Celente told GoldSeek Radio host Chris Waltzek. “So, when things should collapse, they often don’t, because they come up with another scheme. So, here’s the scheme undreamed of that I believe is going to be America’s worst nightmare, and that’s war with [ Read More ]
Economic growth doesn’t always mean jobs growth. Look at the current U.S. recovery: According to the Commerce Department, the economy has been growing for the past 10 straight quarters. In fact, the U.S. now produces more goods and services than it did before the downturn began in 2007. Unfortunately, this greater output is being done with 6 million fewer workers. Corporate profits are at an all-time high. But companies are sitting on record amounts of cash, or are investing in equipment rather than their work force. The average monthly jobs growth has only been 135,000, which barely keeps up with [ Read More ]
This post is from Bob & Liz, who own the “Sound Station” record store business in Westfield, NJ. Sadly, their business burned to the ground yesterday. As if it’s not tough enough running a Ma & Pa retail business in today’s economy, now they have been devastated by this huge loss. Here’s Bob’s FB post about it: Our store is gone. Since 1988 I’ve been behind the counter just trying to get through to people about everything I love in life. It’s all gone now & I dont know how to deal. I feel like life is lost. Nothing inside [ Read More ]
ATLANTA — Home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. said Thursday that it will hire 70,000 seasonal workers for the spring season, its biggest season. The number is about the same as last year, company spokesman Stephen Holmes said. Spring is the biggest season for home improvement projects as homeowners work on projects for their homes, gardens and lawns. Last year, about half of the seasonal workers were hired permanently as cashiers, sales, lot and garden staffers. Home Depot employs about 300,000 workers overall. Home-goods sellers are facing cautious consumer spending and a prolonged weak housing market. They’ve had to adjust [ Read More ]
By: App.com |12:18 PM, Jan. 1, 2012 After an up and down 2011, will 2012 be the year the economy finally breaks out of its funk? Sallee Tee’s Grille reopened Dec. 15, more than three months after the remnants of Hurricane Irene flooded the Monmouth Beach restaurant with at least six inches of water, temporarily closing the business and displacing 70 employees. In hindsight, owner Joe Amiel said, the restaurant’s $500,000 renovation probably was overdue. It now has new floors, walls and equipment. Sixty percent of the staff has returned. And Amiel, looking ahead to 2012, is hopeful. “It was [ Read More ]
NEW YORK — Between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores will be closed, the retailer said Tuesday, after terrible holiday sales during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers. Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources. The company is moving away from its practice of propping up “marginally performing” stores in hopes of improving their performance. Sears said it will now concentrate on cash-generating stores. “Given our performance and the difficult economic environment, especially for big-ticket items, [ Read More ]
By APP.com 9:41 PM, Dec. 21, 2011 WASHINGTON— The U.S. economy is ending 2011 on a roll. The job market is healthier. Americans are spending eagerly on holiday gifts. A long-awaited turnaround for the depressed housing industry appears to be under way. Gas is cheaper. Factories are busier. Not bad for an economy faced with a debt crisis in Europe and, as recently as this summer, scattered predictions of a second recession at home. Instead, the economy has grown faster each quarter this year, and the last three months should be the best. “Things are looking up,” says Chris Rupkey, [ Read More ]
