A disturbing and disheartening trend for job-seekers is the spate of listings out there that say if you don’t have a job, don’t bother applying for this one. It’s a kind of discrimination, and it’s legal. But it may not be for long. [More]
economy
Wealth Gap Between Whites And Minorities Is Widest In 25 Years
By 7.27.11
The wealth gap between whites and Hispanics has increased to its widest in 25 years, according to new analysis of Census data by the Pew Research Center. We’re talking a 20-1 ratio between whites and blacks, and an 18-1 between whites and Hispanics. Like so many things, it comes down the the housing crisis. [More]
Wells Fargo Denies Mortgage 1 Day Before Closing To 800 Credit Score Buyer With 20% Down
By 7.26.11
After years of anything goes loans-writing, the pendulum has swung far, far, in the other direction. Patrick tells the story of how his loan with Wells Fargo was denied, 1 day before he was set to close on a new condo. Even though he has an 800 credit score and was putting 20% down, this hiccup was enough to make Wells Fargo back up. And because of it, he and his five-month pregnant wife now have one week to find a new place to live. [More]
Not Just Hair Dye: An Older Guy's Guide To Getting A Job
By 7.25.11
It’s not just a matter of putting on a few doses of “Touch of Gray.” John shares his strategies for getting a job as an older guy in the youth-obsessed technology field. While the last story we wrote about this focused on the power of personal connections to open doors, John makes sure that his resume is very nice and Google-friendly. [More]
Borders CEO's Goodbye Email To His Customers
By 7.22.11
Mike Edwards, the CEO of the liquidating Borders bookstores emailed a farewell note to all Borders Rewards Members last night. In it, he looked back at the over 40 years of bookselling and imagination-stoking the chain has done and explained why they were closing down. Beyond the sentiments, he also explained some important things you’ll want to know if you want to buy some books from them before they close their doors for good. [More]
Quiznos Risks Defaulting
By 7.21.11
“Torpedoing.” “Toasted.” The food that Quiznos is having trouble selling is full of metaphors for how its business is going. Crunched by the recession, its own policies towards franchise owners, competitors adding toasters, and an “everyday value” strategy that ran counter to its position as a purveyor of premium sandwiches, Quiznos is on the edge of violating its loan terms and could go into default. [More]
"And That Was When I Started Coloring My Hair" – An Older Man Looks For Work In The Recession
By 7.20.11
David was out of a job for two years and faced the difficult prospect of being a 54-year old looking for work as an IT manager. He carefully edited his resume so it had no hint of age. The only dates it mentioned were his last 10 years of experience. After sending his resume to a lot of places, he finally scored an interview, only to have the hiring manager react “dumbfounded” when she saw his age and his gray hair. The interview went well enough. The rejection email came a week later. “And that was when I started coloring my hair,” David writes. [More]
It's Taking Longer For Small Businesses To Get Paid
By 7.19.11
Small business are experiencing a cashflow crunch as the average time it takes to get paid by customers has increased to 48 days, up from 42 days in 2010. [More]
China's Hypergrowth Fueled By Building Giant Cities No One Lives In
By 7.15.11
Chin up, America. China ain’t so great. That 10% GDP growth they’ve been having? A lot of it is fake. Take this investigate report that looks at the big trend over there of Chinese ghost cities and ghost malls. China is building ten of these cities a year, cities that can serve millions, with rows of apartment complexes, shopping malls, and universities. But almost no one lives in them. By pouring materials and resources and labor in, the government can keep national GDP at its state-mandated levels, even if its not meeting any real demand. It’s like someone is playing SimCity with all cheat codes, but this is a game China is going to lose. [More]
Four Charged In Alleged $2.5 Million Reverse Mortgage Racket
By 7.11.11
For their victims, the phone call sounded like salvation. Seniors, living on a fixed income and having trouble with the bills, they were glad to hear someone offering them a reverse mortgage that would allow them to turn the equity in their house into cash. But the four mortgage professionals charged with perpetrating a $2.5 million reverse mortgage fraud scheme are anything but angels. Their aftermath has left those who signed up with them impoverished and close to foreclosure. [More]
Unemployment Rises To 9.2%
By 7.11.11
Dashing hopes buoyed by preliminary reports on Thursday, the official Labor Department jobs report on Friday said the economy only added 18,000 jobs last month. This brought the unemployment number up to 9.2% from 9.1%. But one man’s gloom is another’s boon… [More]
Treasury Prints Less Money As Credit Card Use Climbs
By 7.8.11
Last year, the Treasury Department didn’t even bother printing any new $10 bills. [More]
Strong Jobs Data Lifts Markets
By 7.7.11
Markets rose as a day before the Labor Department releases its official monthly jobs report, two other reports came out that strongly suggesting it will be a pretty good one. [More]
Here's What The .7% Rise In Home Prices Rise Actually Looks Like
By 6.29.11
As we noted this morning, there is a small respite from the recent glut of melancholic economic news: home prices inched upwards. Yep, on Tuesday, the widely-watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index posted a rise of .7% for April. Let’s put that in context with this chart. No, that’s not just an ink smudge. [More]
House Prices In April Rose A Whisker From March
By 6.29.11
Although house prices continue to tumble year over year, and analysts expect prices to continue to drop as the months roll by, April marked an ever so slight nudge in the opposite direction. Previously owned single-family home prices rose 0.7 percent from March, according to the Case-Shiller index, which examined sales in 20 cities. [More]
Consumer Spending Sputtered In May
By 6.28.11
In a sign of economic wheel-spinning, consumer spending fell by an inflation-adjusted .1% for May, the government announced Monday. [More]
Unemployment Claims Rise By 9,000
By 6.23.11
Doing nothing to help views that the job market is weakening, the Labor Department announced this morning that jobless claims rose by 9,000 last week. It was the largest increase in a month. The dim news just added on to the pile of sad following the Fed’s no-surprise-to-anyone pronouncement yesterday that the economic recovery wasn’t happening as quickly as we once thought. [More]
Oil Prices Drop 4.5% As 60M Barrels Are Unexpectedly Released
By 6.23.11
Expect some much-needed relief at the pump! The US and its industrial allies unexpectedly announced that they’re releasing 60 million barrels of crude oil from reserves over the next 30 days. The move came after a recent OPEC meeting failed to result in increased production. Oil prices immediately kicked down 4.5% on the news. Time to fill up the ‘ol SUV and do some donuts before the market realizes it overreacted and prices go back up! [More]
