We’ve focused a lot in recent months on the worrisome trend of retail bankruptcies and all the stores and malls being left vacant in their wake. But a new federal jobs report gives an idea of the impact these tough times have had on workers, with nearly 30,000 retail jobs vanishing in March. [More]
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Facebook Really Sorry It Spent 2 Years Overestimating How Long We Watch Videos
By 9.23.16
Video has been really important to Facebook in recent years, with the social media company pushing its live broadcasts and inserting videos in our feeds. The thing is, though, how long does the average user spend actually watching videos that pop up in our feeds, whether they’re an ad or just a clip of a friend’s kitten? Not as long as Facebook tells advertisers that we have. [More]
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Yelp Adds Hospital Wait Times, Nursing Home Fine Info To Reviews
By 8.5.15
When a trip to the emergency room is in order, you’re usually in a hurry, because, after all, it’s an emergency. Sitting around waiting to be seen by a doctor can be an agonizing experience for those in need of quick help. While Yelp can’t hurry along those doctors, it can apparently tell you just how long you might expect to be camped out in the hospital E.R. [More]
Unemployment Falls To 9%, New Job Rate Falters
By 2.4.11
During a snow-battered January, US employment only rose 36,000, well-below the expected 145,000, according to the just-released jobs report by the Department of Labor. Unemployment also fell to 9% by .4 percentage points. While that looks odd on the face of it, the difference is largely because that rate is calculated using a different report than payroll data. So, how’s your job-search going? If the answer is, “poorly,” you’re in good company. [More]
Government To Change Way It Counts Long-Term Unemployed
By 12.28.10
If you’ve been unemployed 100 weeks or longer, you’re in luck. No, you’re not about to get a new job. But for the first time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will accurately track the length of time you’ve been unemployed when calculating long-term unemployment. Previously, the agency had to check off “99 weeks or over” for anyone unemployed longer than two years. See, the recession isn’t all bad, is it? [More]
Unemployment Hits A 26-Year High Of 10.2%
By 11.6.09
The pace of job losses has slowed significantly, but the economy still divested itself of 190,000 jobs in October, sending the national unemployment rate to 10.2%, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It should be noted that the unemployment rate only tracks people actively seeking work.
What Bills Are In Circulation The Most?
By 9.4.09
Visual Economics has a fun chart that shows how many of each denomination of U.S. currency is in circulation, as well as their average lifespans. For some reason, the $5 bill has the shortest lifespan. Also, seriously, we need to stop producing pennies NOW.
Breaking Down Airline Safety Records
By 8.28.09
The Daily Beast says it has determined which airlines in the U.S. are the safest by comparing the global statistics for the 25 airlines with the best safety records and those with the worst. Which is the safest? The answer may come as a surprise, since this methodology showed that AirTran is the safest national carrier.
What Do Sales Data Show About This Recession?
By 8.23.09
People aren’t buying: Large appliances, furniture, and durable household goods
How The Average Consumer Spends His Paycheck
By 8.20.09
You already have a budget, you just probably haven’t seen it turned into a colorful graphic before. Here’s one that illustrates where all the money goes. Sadly, we spend about three times as much on tobacco as on reading, and yet almost nothing on strippers! (Unless that falls under “entertainment.”)
Where Are New Job Opportunities? Try Wyoming, North Dakota, Virginia
By 5.6.09
As unemployment grows, MainStreet looked at where in the U.S. there are actually new job opportunities. Ranked #51 is Michigan. #1? North Dakota.
Public Transit Ridership Highest In 52 Years
By 3.10.09
See, here’s some good news to the wallet-gouging gas prices of 2008: ridership of public transportation was up to 10.7 billion trips last year, “the highest level of ridership in 52 years” according to the American Public Transportation Association. It was the fifth consecutive year that ridership increased, but it may come to an end in 2009 because of skyrocketing unemployment.
Just How Bad Is This Recession? Look At The Scary, Scary Graph
By 2.9.09
Nancy Pelosi wants to scare the crap out of you, so her office has released the above scary graph, which we bring to you by way of Time’s Swampland blog.
Airlines Have Bumped 343,000 Passengers This Year
By 8.23.08
Over a quarter-million passengers were bumped from flights in the past eight months, a number that is set to grow as airlines try to boost anemic profits by slashing fleets. The Department of Transportation requires airlines to compensate bumped passengers with cash or vouchers, but savvy passengers can leverage their situation to negotiate heftier payments…
Report Card On Personal Finance Education Nationwide
By 1.30.08
Less than a week ago, Tennessee voted to require a personal finance class of all graduating high school students, starting with this year’s seventh graders. Unfortunately, less than 20% of states have similar requirements. We’ve made a fancy-schmancy graphic to show which states are teaching tomorrow’s citizens how to manage money, and which states are likely to be great places to set up payday loan shops. Inside, see the chart nice and big.
By 12.29.07
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According to the Consumer Electronics Association, half of US homes already have digital televisions. If you’re not one of them, you’ve got a year to switch—or make sure you hit up this site next Tuesday to get a coupon for a converter.
Sales Of Women's Clothing Drops, May Mean Steep Discounts Over The Next Week
By 12.18.07
Mastercard reported on Sunday that, after a slight bump around Black Friday, sales of women’s clothing has dropped again, down 6% even while sales of men’s clothing has gone up 4.5%. They think it has to do with an overall weak year for women’s fashion, and the fact that mothers tend to cut back on new clothes for themselves first when faced with a tighter budget. The silver lining: there may be considerable discounts at women’s clothing retailers in the immediate future as they try to bump up sales at the last minute.
FTC Says Identity Theft Has Dropped, Sort Of, Maybe Not?
By 12.1.07
The FTC’s figure for identity theft in 2005 was 8.3 million Americans over the age of 18, a drop of about 16% from the 9.9 million it measured in 2003. (2005 is the most recent year for which they have data.) However, not only are consumer groups saying that these numbers are faulty, even the FTC admits in a footnote that “its conclusion is not ‘statistically significant’ because the sample size was too small.”
