One needs only to browse the headlines, or perhaps observe the bustling action at your neighborhood thrift store, to realize that America’s middle classes have been faring poorly lately.
Job Markets
To Kick Off the Labor Day Festivities, Some Grim Employment Statistics
Labor Day weekend is celebrated in honor of workers everywhere. Now, if only there were more companies willing to do the honorable thing and put more workers to work …
How the Newly Prudent Consumer Is Killing the Economy
Today’s consumers are increasingly likely to pay off credit card bills in full, skip vacations, dine out less, hold off on buying big-ticket items like new cars, and even trim everyday expenses by, say, subbing a generic cereal …
Health Care Industry Growth Beginning to Slow
The health care industry has been one of the bright spots in a dark economy in the last few years. But job growth in the industry now looks as if it’s starting to slow.
How to Boost Your Income
I’ve written a lot — at TIME Moneyland and other sites — about the importance of taking charge of your own financial life. Nobody cares more about your money than you do. If you’re not willing to be smart with your money, you …
Starbucks CEO Calls for a Boycott on Campaign Donations
Like many Americans, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, is disgusted with politics—the bickering, the astounding inability to get things done, the blatant self-interest in every carefully calculated decision. Now Schultz is …
Take This Job and Shove It: Why Most Workers Hate the Company They Just Left
In a new survey, roughly 75% of workers who left their jobs say they absolutely would not recommend the employer to other job seekers. In 2008, only 42% of employees in the same situation recommended steering clear of the companies they’d recently parted ways with.
Nothing Great About the Good Jobs Number
Here’s the bad news about today’s jobs report: It proves once and for all that we are in a slow growth economy. And that’s worse news than you think.
Middle Class Sees Biggest Employment Drop in Recession
Early on in the financial crisis there was talk of this finally being the Wall Street recession. Investment bankers, CEOs and other high-paid types would be thrown out of their jobs or see their paychecks cut. Manufacturing and …
Oh, the Irony! To Get a Job, You Must Already Have a Job
Last summer, a few disturbing job ads surfaced requiring that candidates “must be currently employed” to be considered for the openings. Nowadays, the practice of hiring only those who already have jobs is commonplace.
Everything’s Bigger in Texas Except Its Unemployment Rate
Even though unemployment inched up in June, Texas is the best place to find a job in the U.S. today. Why’s that? And should you move there?
Why Job Hunters Shouldn’t Worry So Much About Paltry Job Growth
As you are probably aware, the latest job markets news isn’t good: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero. That’s bad for the economy, of course. And it may be especially …