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The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's report cited stagnant or falling wages among the lowest-income earners, a local jobless rate that remains above state and national averages, and a worsening lack of affordable housing. ... According to the agency's latest biennial count, an estimated 44,300 people are living on the streets, in cars, in abandoned buildings or in shelters and government-funded "transitional housing" on any given night in Los Angeles County. That tally, based on a census conducted in January, is up 12 percent, or nearly 5,000 people, across Los Angeles County, compared with numbers reported from the previous survey...

Under current law, employers are required to pay time-and-a-half wages to employees working more than 40 hours a week only if they earn less than $23,660 annually. The Obama administration is intent on increasing - and likely more than doubling - that salary threshold, according to people briefed on the administration's plans. That change is likely to have significant impact on workers in retail and the food services industry, like a restaurant manger who earns $30,000 a year but works 60 hours a week. "We need a national wage floor that that rises each year, so that its purchasing power...

A recent survey by UC-Berkeley's student assembly found that nearly half -- 47% -- of its Ph.D students were depressed, citing dismal job prospects. About 37% of its master's degree students also reported depression. Even though the once-a-decade report only focused on Berkeley -- one of the most prestigious public universities in the country -- it could spark a wider discussion on the value of graduate education in America. "The largest source of anxiety for me is my job outlook. It is tremendously uncertain and thus fear-inducing," one anonymous graduate student said in their survey response. Job pessimism was the...

US economic growth braked more sharply than expected.... gross domestic product expanded at only at 0.2 percent annual rate....

The U.S. grew at a meager 0.2% annual pace in the first three months of 2015, a period marked by severe weather, a major port dispute and a soaring dollar that curbed American exports. Consumer spending, the main engine of growth, slowed sharply to 1.9%, below the average 2.3% increase since the recovery began in mid-2009.

In the latest sign of a changing housing market, homeownership rates are at a quarter-century low, while the rental-vacancy rate is close to the slimmest proportion in more than two decades, according to government data released Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted homeownership rate, which shows the share of occupied homes in which an owner lives, fell to 63.8% in the first quarter — the lowest proportion since the end of 1989, the U.S. Census Bureau said. Families with income both above and below the median have seen drops in homeownership rates over the past year. Weak income growth and difficult-to-get mortgages...

General Motors will stop making the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks in June and July due to slow sales and to deal with the change to an all-new version of the gas-electric hybrid car. The company says the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that makes the Volt and four other cars will probably stay open through the summer despite plans for the Volt. The factory also is undergoing construction so it can build a new full-size Cadillac CT6 and the 2016 Volt starting late in the summer. Sales of electric and hybrid cars have slowed this year, largely due to low gasoline prices....

It is clear that the economic realities falling upon the masses in America are driving us towards a crisis point. Even with substantial government subsidies, the bottom 10% of Americans are beyond struggling, spending more than 60% of their meager incomes on the bare essentials. According to the latest official numbers, the poorest in the United States are spending 42% of their income on housing and another 17% on food, statistics that are unsustainable for individuals and families. The Wall Street Journal reported: For many Americans, the rise in food and housing prices is a tough squeeze. That’s because—even in...

How many times have we seen this? Every time the economy seems ready to pull out of its 2% growth rut and shift into a higher gear, the engine stalls. It's happening again in 2015. Employers added a flimsy 126,000 jobs in March — and with downward revisions from previous months, the job gains were half that high. The latest estimate for first-quarter GDP is below 1%, with one Federal Reserve Bank predicting closer to zero. Businesses aren't buying into the robust expansion story that President Obama has been peddling in his "mission accomplished" victory tour across the country —...

The number of Americans 16 years and older who did not participate in the labor force—meaning they neither had a job nor actively sought one in the last four weeks—rose from 92,898,000 in February to 93,175,000 in March, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is the first time the number of Americans out of the labor force has exceeded 93 million. Also from February to March, the labor force participation rate dropped from 62.8 percent to 62.7 percent, matching a 37-year low. Five times in the last twelve months, the participation rate has been...

Eighteen-year-old Alicia Donaldson works at a busy McDonald's in East Oakland. Her job is more complicated than anyone might think. "When you do the grill and the chicken by yourself, it's not easy," she admits. "You have to put down the meat on the grill, and then put chicken in the grease. People get burned a lot." That's a lot of pain for only $9 an hour. Today it's still hard work, but now Alicia is making $12.25 instead. "When I worked 56 hours my check was about $480," she remembers. This month the highest minimum wage in the nation...

Bad weather and rising gasoline prices pushed U.S. consumer sentiment a bit lower in March. The March drop in confidence was caused entirely by falling confidence among low-income households, which are especially sensitive to high utility bills in the winter. Michigan's Curtin predicted that an improving job market would boost consumer spending the rest of the year.

Sales at U.S. retailers fell in February for the third month in a row, as most stores fared poorly with the notable exception of gasoline stations. Retail sales, which account for about one-third of consumer spending, fell 0.6% last month, following even larger declines in January and December, the government reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 0.3% gain. Poor weather was almost certainly a factor. A series of snow storms wracked the eastern half of the country in February, making it harder for Americans to move around. Sales even sank 0.6% at restaurants and bars, marking the...

Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Democratic presidential candidates in 2016 should embrace President Obama’s economic policies and “run on what we have done” instead of running away from the administration. “In my view, those seeking to lead the nation should protect and defend and run, yes run, on what we’ve done and own what we have done,” Mr. Biden said in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa. “Stand for what we have done. Acknowledge what we have done. And be judged on what we have done, if we have any chance for continued resurgence in 2016.” He added, “Some...

Illinois still lays claim to the worst recession recovery in the nation. According to the BLS household survey, there are still 216,000 fewer Illinoisans working than when the Great Recession began, the worst of any state and one of only 22 states that still have fewer people working than when the recession started. .... The business-establishment survey for the 2008-2014 period shows 114,000 fewer payroll jobs in Illinois than when the recession began, the second-worst record of any state, and one of only 15 states yet to break even on the recession. Only New Jersey is down more payroll jobs....

.....The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. More Americans began looking for jobs, though not all found work. Their job hunting suggests they are more confident about their prospects.

Promising to help America’s middle class, President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a record $4 trillion budget that would hammer corporate profits overseas and raise taxes on the wealthy while boosting tax credits for families and the working poor. Obama’s budget also would steer hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation’s crumbling infrastructure of roads and bridges, help provide two years of free community college and reverse the across-the-board, automatic budget cuts that have slammed the Pentagon and nearly every government department. In the face of certain opposition from Republicans, an optimistic Obama hailed a “breakthrough year for...

U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Tuesday, with the Dow positioned for its worst hit since October, as corporations reported earnings that disappointed and orders for U.S. business equipment unexpectedly declined in December. "If you live in the northeast, and you work from home, you're trying to figure out why the market is down 400 points," Art Hogan, market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, referring to the snowstorm that halted transit in and around New York City overnight before ending earlier Tuesday. It's a combination of an increase in volatility when you have a decrease in volume, and a transition period between...

WASHINGTON — Mortgages with low down payments can be just as safe if other underwriting conditions are met, a federal housing regulator said Tuesday. Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee, after Fannie Mae FNMA, +0.47% and Freddie Mac FMCC, +0.47% both started making mortgages available to those who make down payments of just 3%. That has raised the ire of Republicans, who say the move risks a repeat of the housing bubble. “All things being equal, is a 3% down loan riskier to the taxpayer than...

Orders for durable U.S. goods plunged 3.4% in December, the fourth decline in the past five months, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The decline was well below expectations. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected durable-goods orders to rise 0.1%. Adding to the sense of weakness, durable-goods orders for November were revised up to show a 2.1% decline instead of a drop of 0.9%.