To no one’s great surprise, the national unemployment rate today exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983. It was another crushing, if symbolic, blow to the psyche of American workers.
The just-announced 10.2 national unemployment rate partly was fueled by…
R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
Last week, Gov. Jay Nixon whacked another $203.7 million from the state’s budget. He’d already cut $385 million in July, and vetoed another $105 million when he signed the $23 billion budget in June.
The governor really had no choice.…
Missouri’s grim revenue picture got even grimmer last month, with tax collections falling 16.3 percent below what they were in September 2008 — and revenue in September 2008 was lousy to begin with.
The only bright spot in Missouri’s revenue picture —…
Matson
Poverty is on the rise in Missouri. Over the past nine years, the state’s poverty rate has grown at more than double the national average.
The change has disproportionately affected whites. Poverty remains significantly higher among African-Americans. But the poverty rate grew fastest…
Green shoots?
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 is over. So says the International Monetary Fund, the Conference Board and a host of private economic forecasters. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner aren’t prepared to go that far, but they do…
Unless you live in Washington, D.C., or the Minnesota Iron Range, it’s possible you’ve never heard of James L. Oberstar, who wants to spend half a trillion federal tax dollars over the next six years on highway and transportation projects.
But, be…
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 — Tonya Nettles, an operator at the 2-1-1 help line call center run by the United Way of Greater St. Louis, takes some notes during a call. The help line, which provides referrals to social service…
This AP story reports scary figures from the Labor Department. (Go here for the NYT the story.) More than 533,000 jobs were cut in November, the highest in 34 years, according to the story. NPR reported this morning that the Big Three…
In Missouri, you can live in poverty but still not be poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. Adults have to earn less than about 25 percent of the federal income poverty level — roughly $3,700 a year for a single…
The price of gasoline in St. Louis averaged $2.02 per gallon on Friday, a little more than half of its $3.98 high last July. This week a gallon of regular unleaded is going for less $2 at many stations for the…
America is struggling with the worst economic crisis of a generation. Even before he takes office, President-elect Barack Obama is besieged with advice about what he should do — and which of his campaign promises he should forgo — to…
Gas prices are up, a lot. Housing prices are down, a lot. Jobs are disappearing. The American auto industry is on its knees, and 2,400 Chrysler workers soon will lose their jobs in Fenton.
No wonder America is in a funk.…
The prevailing notion today among most domestic economic and media observers is that the U.S. economy is in a recession — and most believe it will get worse before it gets better. But is that really the case?
Representing the prevailing view,…
“This economy is going to come on,” Bush said today at World Wide Technology in Maryland Heights today. “I’m confident it will.”
The president is right. The economy will come back, and probably fairly soon. The question is: Will it lift the…
In a 1980 presidential debate, Ronald Reagan famously demolished then-President Jimmy Carter with a question directed at the American people:
“Are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in…
There’s no longer any doubt — America is in a recession and St. Louis is sharing in the slump. We’ve now lost jobs for three months in a row, for a total of 232,000 nationwide, according to government figures released…
