Back in 2008, a South Florida financial executive found himself firing each of the 70 employees reporting to him. Then, he, too, became a casualty of the crumbling economy. The executive asked for some anonymity in exchange for his honest account of what followed. Sweating through an unfriendly job market, he [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON — It’s starting to feel like another recession. Businesses are ordering fewer goods. Home sales are the slowest in decades. Jobs are scarce, and unemployment claims are rising. Perhaps most worrisome, manufacturing activity, which had been one of the economy’s few bright spots, is faltering. “The odds of a [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON - Unable to make a sizable dent in unemployment, Democrats are on the political equivalent of a golden oldies tour, pledging support for Social Security, Medicare and other venerable programs while trying to stoke voter fears about Republican intentions. The Voting Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and most recently, [ Read More → ]

The number of Massachusetts residents filing for bankruptcy soared in the first half of 2010, as the continued weak economy left thousands of homeowners unable to pay their mortgages or sell their properties. Nearly 12,000 people filed for bankruptcy in the first six months of this year, 25 percent more than [ Read More → ]

According to research, 55 per cent of students are worried they will be unable to find work after leaving university due to the effects of the recession. A shortage of money could lead to graduates abandoning their career goals, the survey suggested, with one in three students saying they would look [ Read More → ]

People often reduce their spending after their pay is cut or they lose their jobs. But a new Pew Research Center survey shows that the new frugality many people are embracing could have long-term impact on the consumerism that fuels the American economy. Americans’ penny pinching may outlast the recession and [ Read More → ]

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — No money? No problem! Pay with time, instead. That’s what Maria Villacreses did when the economy put a hitch in her wedding plans: She used “time dollars” on everything from a wedding-day makeover to an elaborate seven-layer cake. [ Read More → ]

The higher a tax is, the less willing people will be to do the activity being taxed Photo: REX THE most interesting thing about income tax is that it is not permanent. When William Pitt the Younger introduced the levy on salaries in 1798, it was supposed to be a [ Read More → ]

Savers routinely withdrawing cash to cover living costs Photo: Alamy One in three savers have had to tap into their cash reserves during the past six months, according to the study. It means more than seven million are using their savings to cope with the financial squeeze on household budgets amid [ Read More → ]

  View full sizerader Gregory Rowe, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 20, 2010. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 376 points, its biggest one-day point drop since February 2009, and all the major indexes were down well over than 3 percent.NEW YORK (AP) [ Read More → ]