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The record of President Obama’s first three years in office is in, and nothing that happens now can go back and change that. What that record shows is that President Obama, with his throwback, old-fashioned, 1970s Keynesian economics, has put America through the worst recovery from a recession since the Great Depression. The recession started in December, 2007. Go to the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org) to see the complete history of America’s recessions. What that history reveals is that before this last recession, since the Great Depression recessions in America have lasted an average of...

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 31 million people currently unemployed -- that's including those involuntarily working part time and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting.

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WASHINGTON — The economy shrank less than expected in the second quarter as businesses and consumers trimmed their spending at a slower pace, buttressing beliefs that the economy is now growing. The 0.7 percent dip in gross domestic product for the April-June quarter follows the 6.4 percent annualized drop in the first three months of this year, the worst slide in nearly three decades. In the final quarter of last year, the economy sank at a rate of 5.4 percent The new reading on second-quarter GDP, reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, shows the economy shrinking less than the...

One thing seemed clear during the darkest days of recession and bear market: The rules of investing had changed. Investors of all stripes, from big guns at giant financial institutions to the guy chatting you up at the cocktail party, were trying to figure out how to operate in the new paradigm. Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian dubbed it "the New Normal," and GMO money manager Jeremy Grantham, who'd warned us all that this was coming, looked forward from here and saw "seven lean years." But is it really different this time? From a big-picture perspective, the stock market to this...

Nevada's unemployment rose to 12.5 percent in July, while joblessness in especially hard-hit Las Vegas surged to 13.1 percent. It’s the highest jobless rate both statewide and locally since the state began tracking data in 1976. No “green shoots” for Nevada. As economists and policymakers nationwide hover over the tender little economic tendrils that herald recovery from recession, Nevada’s economy looks as barren as the Mojave Desert. As a trickle of data points to the national downturn’s end, Nevada’s economy continues its descent. Joblessness in the Silver State jumped to 12.5 percent in July, while unemployment in hard-hit Las Vegas...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A new government report shows the economy sank at a pace of just 1 percent in the second quarter of the year. It was a better-than-expected showing that provided the strongest signal yet that the longest recession since World War II is finally winding down. The dip in gross domestic product for the April-to-June period, reported by the Commerce Department on Friday, comes after the economy was in a free fall, tumbling at 6.4 percent pace in the first three months of this year. That was the sharpest downhill slide in nearly three decades. The economy has...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. economy slumped in the spring but its decline was mild and much smaller than the contraction over the previous nine months, according to data that gave a powerful signal the recession has eased. Gross domestic product fell at a seasonally adjusted 1.0% annual rate April through June, the Commerce Department said Friday in the first estimate of second-quarter GDP. GDP acts as a scoreboard for the economy by measuring all goods and services produced. It fell 6.4% in the first quarter and 5.4% in the fourth quarter, at the pit of the recession.

It's 3 p.m. on a recent weekday, and Andy Brantley, 24, and Eli Montague, 23, are relaxing on blue, oversized couches, watching “SportsCenter” on a 40-inch, flat-panel TV. Montague's SUV is one of the only cars left on Idlewood Circle, a quiet, tree-lined street between Park Road and Freedom Park. Most of the neighbors are at work. Brantley will have to leave in a couple of hours for his part-time job as a busboy at a nearby bar. Montague – who interns for the Panthers – plans to spend the afternoon playing Xbox 360 at the $375,000 house the roommates...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private employers chopped more than half a million jobs in May, signaling job conditions remain tough and dashing some hopes the economy was not deteriorating as rapidly as thought, a report on Wednesday showed.

The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives. Trustees of the programs said Tuesday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner. Medicare is in even worse shape. The trustees said the program for hospital expenses will pay out more in benefits than it collects this year and...