Teaching young adults responsibility — and showing them that responsibility can have financial benefits — pays off in the long run by cultivating a solid work ethic. That’s the thinking behind a new multi-company initiative spearheaded by Starbucks. [More]
economy
Starbucks, 17 Other Companies Partner To Provide “Opportunity Youth” With Jobs, Internships
By 7.13.15
Southwest Bucks The Trend, Plans To Actually Widen Seats On New Planes
By 4.14.15
Flying on a Southwest Airlines flight in 2016 might be a bit more comfortable for some customers used to cramped spaces: The airline unveiled a new seating structure for its upcoming planes that gives consumers an extra half-inch of seat width. [More]
Report: Americans Are Optimistic About Their Finances But Few Actually Feel Secure
By 2.27.15
Americans’ positive feelings about the economy have officially returned to the level they were at on the eve of the Great Recession, according to a new study from Pew Charitable Trusts. While that might sound comforting, it doesn’t mean consumers are actually feeling secure in their own financial stability. [More]
Delta Revamps Seating Options; Offers Complimentary Alcohol To Main Cabin On Select Flights
By 12.9.14
Purchasing a plane ticket used to be a pretty straightforward endeavor with consumers having to choose between first-class or economy seating. If wasn’t apparent that those days were long gone, it might be now that Delta Air Lines has turned the whole airplane seating arrangement and offerings on its head with five options to choose from. [More]
As Our Lives And The Economy Got Worse, We Really Liked Playing Zombie
By 3.11.13 — Updated: 6.16.16
Think our current cultural fixation on zombies is just part of the zeitgeist? A Clemson University literature professor says that it’s not that simple. Focusing on the zombie walks occurring in many cities, she points out that people have become more interested in playing zombie over the last decade as we feel powerless, penniless, and disenfranchised. [CBS Charlotte] [More]
Survey: Consumer Confidence At Highest Level In Four Years
By 11.1.12
Hip hip, hooray: Americans seem pretty darn positive right about now, according to a new survey that says consumer confidence for last month was at the highest level in almost five years. The report pegs this feeling to improving conditions in the job market, as hiring in the summer months was stronger than predicted.
Americans Are More Confident About The Economy Than We’ve Been In 7 Months
By 9.26.12
Stores are busy announcing holiday hirings, home values are rising and American are feeling pretty darn good about all of that. So good, in fact, that a new survey of consumers shows we’re the most confident we’ve been about the economy for seven months. [More]
Small Business Owners Didn't Feel So Confident In March
By 4.11.12
If the path to economic recovery will be led by small businesses believing in the future and growing, it may still be a while until we get there. Bullish sentiments among small business owners trended the way of Linsanity. [More]
U.S. Adds 227,000 New Jobs While Unemployment Remains Steady
By 3.9.12
Everyone is all abuzz this morning with the latest numbers from the U.S. Labor Department, which show we’ve boosted the job count by more than what was forecast in February. While the unemployment rate stayed the same at 8.3%, we added 227,000 jobs, up from the predicted 210,000. [More]
Home Prices Hit Lowest Levels Since '06
By 2.29.12
If you’re waiting for home prices to start going up before you sell your house, feel free to keep waiting. As of December, house prices were still slipping, reaching their lowest levels in five years according to one index. [More]
Unemployment Claims Are Lowest Since '08
By 2.17.12
In a sign that the black cloud that’s hovered over the economy for the past several years may be ready to give way to a little sunshine, unemployment claims dropped to 348,000 in the week that ended Feb. 11 — the lowest level since March 2008. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of claims dropped by 13,000 from the previous week. [More]
Even Though Incomes Are Up, Americans Aren't Ready To Spend More
By 1.30.12
Although there are signs of hope for the economy as American incomes were up by the most they have been in nine months, the fact that we’re also keeping our spending exactly the same isn’t so great. [More]
White House: Unemployment Insurance Must Be Extended To Help Spur Job Creation
By 12.21.11
As the deadline to approve the payroll tax cut extension looms 10 days away, White House officials are speaking out to urge Republicans in the House of Representatives to approve the measure that only days ago was hailed as a bipartisan compromise when it passed in the Senate. However, the White House says Republicans have now changed their tune. [More]
10 Million More In Poverty Because Of Medical Expenses, Census Reports
By 11.10.11
If you were to subtract the cost of health care expenses from family incomes, an additional 10 million more Americans would be considered in poverty by official measures, the U.S. Census Bureau said this week in a new report. [More]
BofA Reaps Fees From Unemployment Benefits Loaded On Debit Cards
By 11.10.11
While Bank of America’s now-abandoned plan to charge debit card users $5 a month has received a halogen spotlight recently, far less attention has been paid to how it collects fees off the unemployed. In some states, unemployment benefits are issued via Bank of America debit cards. States save money by not using paper checks, but the unemployed lose out from all the fees hiding in the cards. [More]
New Wave Of Mortgage Defaults On Horizon
By 11.9.11
Some of the crappiest mortgages ever made were issued in 2006, and right now those 5-year introductory teaser periods are expiring. That’s leading to a 300% increase in monthly payments for already strapped borrowers, and it’s what’s driving the first increase in delinquent mortgages since 2009, a banking expert tells Credit.com. [More]
Study: Old People Are Getting Richer, Young Are Getting Poorer
By 11.8.11
The economic times are apparently going relatively easy on old folks while sticking it to the whippersnappers. Those at retirement age and beyond were better off in 2009 than they were in 1984, while their younger counterparts faced more difficult struggles. [More]
Video: Occupy Portlanders Open Credit Union Accounts On Bank Transfer Day
By 11.7.11
Saturday was the fifth of November, and many remembered to take a stand and shut down their big retail bank accounts, transferring their cash to a new credit union account. Here’s a video out of Occupy Portland covering what happened on Bank Transfer Day. Interviewees talk about why they’re switching to a credit union, and how this is just the beginning. [More]
