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(CNNMoney.com) -- A proposed ban on lobstering has been put on ice, at least for the next few months.The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had proposed a five-year moratorium on lobster harvesting along the Atlantic Coast between Cape Cod, Mass. and North Carolina, but on Thursday tabled the ban until fall.       
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe commission is considering a ban to allow the declining lobster population to recover. Toni Kerns, senior fishery management plan coordinator at the Commission, said that a committee of biologists will present study results at the follow-up meeting that show how the lobster population would react to three different alternatives: a 50% reduction in harvesting, a 75% reduction, or maintaining the status quo, which is no reduction at all.Lobstering is currently allowed along the Atlantic Coast, despite the fact that disease killed off large numbers of the crustaceans in Long Island Sound about 10 years ago. The majority of U.S. lobsters come from Maine, which is not being considered for a ban because the population there is thriving. Lobstermen pulled in a robust 76.3 million pounds in 2009, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the largest harvest in years. 


    
        
         
      
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Lobster tales: Five-year ban coming to East Coast?  Prices too low for lobstermen's taste  Babysitters for backyard chickens

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(CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing for initial unemployment insurance climbed last week, the government said Thursday.There were 464,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended July 17, up 37,000 from a revised 427,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe number of claims was much higher than expected. A consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected new claims to rise to 445,000."It's very disappointing to have this leading indicator of economic conditions jump higher," said John Lonski, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "This is the latest reminder of a weak labor market, and the jump preserves worries regarding the adequacy of economic growth."The 4-week moving average of initial claims, which is calculated to smooth out volatility, was 456,000, up 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 454,750.Continuing claims: The government said 4,487,000 people filed continuing claims in the week ended July 10, the most recent data available. That's down 223,000 from the preceding week's upwardly revised 4,710,000 claims. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected ongoing claims to edge lower to 4,600,000 from the unrevised 4,681,000 in the previous week. The 4-week moving average for ongoing claims fell by 21,500 to 4,567,000 from the preceding week's revised 4,588,500.Outlook: Lonski said the latest rise in jobless claims is consistent with worries about the labor market, consumer spending and the general health of the U.S. economy."The jump in jobless claims signals more coming in the way of a slack labor market that will curb the growth of wages and employment income, and thereby consumer spending," he said. "And this just reinforces a mediocre or lackluster outlook for job growth going forward."Earlier this month, the government said the U.S. economy lost jobs in June for the first time this year. And Lonski said that given the lack of improvement in the labor market and consumer sentiment, we could be in store for another gloomy jobs report next month.      "This is a warning that we are unlikely to receive an upside surprise in the form of a better-than-expected reading on July payrolls," said Lonski. "Despite doing better in terms of profitability and sales, companies have not stopped laying off staff and are not yet in an expansionary mode."


    
        
         
      
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Fed: Outlook 'unusually uncertain'  Economy still on life support  Jobless aid moves forward



First Published: July 22, 2010: 8:37 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A key measure of consumer confidence fell in June, reversing a three-month gain, as Americans remain nervous about the job market.  The Conference Board, a New York-based research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 52.9 in June from 62.7 in May. It was the lowest level since March, when the index stood at 52.3.       
         
         
         
      
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CommentEconomists had expected the index to have fallen to 62 in June, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com."Increasing uncertainty and apprehension about the future state of the economy and labor market, no doubt a result of the recent slowdown in job growth, are the primary reasons for the sharp reversal in confidence," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement. Consumer confidence had been recovering slowly since the index hit a record low of 25.3 in February 2009, but the gauge is still far from a reading above 90, which indicates the economy is stable, and 100 or above, which indicates strong growth. The index that measures consumers' present level of confidence fell to 25.5 last month from 29.8 in May. The expectations index, which tracks consumers' expectations over the next few months, fell to 71.2 from 84.6.0:00
      /4:02Romer: 'We are adding jobs'Economists pay close attention to measures of consumer confidence as a proxy for consumer spending, which drives the bulk of the U.S. economy. "Today's report on confidence provides little reason to expect a meaningful pickup in consumer spending in the near term," said Jim Baird, partner and chief strategist at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. "Consumers are still exceedingly nervous about the jobs market." The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead fell in June to 16% from 20.2% the month before, according to the report. The percentage of those expecting fewer jobs increased. "Although the economy is growing, consumers recognize that employers remain hesitant to hire and jobs are still hard to come by," Baird said. Economists expect the government's monthly jobs report for June to show a decline of 100,000 jobs after temporary Census hiring led to the biggest monthly job gain in ten years during May. Meanwhile, the government said last week that the economy grew at a slower pace in the first three months of this year than previously estimated. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2010, according to the Commerce Department, down from the previous reading of a 3% rise.


    
        
         
      
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Home prices up 3.8% in April - but don't celebrate  Investors grab Tesla Motors IPO



First Published: June 29, 2010: 10:02 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A 2009 federal crackdown on abusive credit card practices has exposed a litany of other ways consumers are being hosed.That's according to a report released Thursday examining the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act.      
         
         
         
      
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The study, from the Pew Health Group's Safe Credit Cards Project, found that most of the practices deemed "unfair" or "deceptive" by the Federal Reserve under the law have disappeared from new credit card offers since Congress passed the law."Most of the news is good, but we are seeing the rise of new harmful behavior," said Shelley Hearne, managing director of the Pew Health Group.For example, issuers have been increasing fees for cash advances and balance transfers. Banks have hiked those fees to a median 4% as of March from 3% in July 2009, according to the study. Credit union cash advance fees rose to 2.5% from 2%. The Pew researchers also found that penalty rate increases, which are not subject to CARD Act rules, remain widespread. According to the study, 94% of bank cards and 46% of credit union cards included penalty rate terms. The median penalty rate, when disclosed, rose to 29.99% in March from 28.99% in July 2009.At the same time, the study found that some credit card disclosures stopped including the size of penalty interest rates, even as issuers reserved the right to impose them."Federal regulators should pay attention to this problematic new trend," said Nick Bourke, a Pew director and co-author of the report. "When issuers withhold vital pricing information, it leaves cardholders in the dark and puts their financial security at risk, which is why federal regulations have long required issuers to disclose their rates and fees up front."0:00
      /1:47Increase your credit limitThe study was based on a review of written application disclosures for nearly 450 credit cards and was conducted in March. It covers the largest 12 banks and largest 12 credit union issuers, which control a combined 90% of the nation's outstanding credit card debt.On the positive side, the study found that credit card issuers have done away with "hair trigger" penalty rate increases, in which consumers are charged fees for minor account violations. In addition, unfair payment allocation and interest rate hikes on existing balances have also been eliminated.Credit card issuers have also curtailed the use of over limit fees, which were present in 25% of all cards examined in March, compared with 80% in July 2009. Mandatory arbitration clauses that limit a consumer's right to settle disputes in court have also become less prevalent.


    
        
         
      
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Job seekers' latest hurdle: Credit checks  Raise your credit score



First Published: July 22, 2010: 9:34 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A Minnesota bank was closed by government regulators Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said, bringing the total number of failed banks this year past 100.Community Security Bank of New Prague, Minn., was the 101st in a string of small, regional banks to fail this year. While conditions have improved for many of the nation's largest banks, the lingering effects of the financial crisis continue to take a toll on local lenders across the country.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe FDIC expects the wave of bank failures that started in 2008 to peak sometime this year. Lending activity has picked up in some areas and many troubled firms have found new sources of capital.FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said the agency expects the number of failed banks to exceed last year's total of 140, though he added that failures this year will not approach the historic levels seen during the savings and loan crisis. In 1989, a record 534 banks were closed by regulators.Still, banks have been failing at a rapid pace this year. At this time in 2009, regulators had closed a total of 57 banks.0:00
      /2:25Stress tests: EU compared to U.SAnalysts expect small banks to remain the most likely to fail. Regional lenders continue to suffer from mounting loan losses, particularly in areas like commercial real estate. Big financial firms, on the other hand, have largely returned to profitability.Meanwhile, there is evidence to suggest that the banking industry has recovered from the worst of the financial crisis.The FDIC said in May that the number of firms on its "problem bank list" fell to 775 during the first quarter of this year from 702 in the same period in 2009.Banks and other institutions insured by the FDIC collectively earned approximately $18 billion during the quarter. That's the highest profit since the first quarter of 2008 and was a more than three-fold increase from a year ago.As of the first quarter, the fund had a deficit of $20.7 billion. But that's including money the agency has set aside in anticipation of future bank failures. In addition, the fund grew by $145 million during the quarter -- the first increase in two years.- CNNMoney.com staff writer, Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report.


    
        
         
      
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Europe's banks score an A on stress tests  Treasury selling more Citi stock  Banks paid big $ to execs during crisis

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A proposed ban on lobstering has been put on ice, at least for the next few months.The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission had proposed a five-year moratorium on lobster harvesting along the Atlantic Coast between Cape Cod, Mass. and North Carolina, but on Thursday tabled the ban until fall.       
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe commission is considering a ban to allow the declining lobster population to recover. Toni Kerns, senior fishery management plan coordinator at the Commission, said that a committee of biologists will present study results at the follow-up meeting that show how the lobster population would react to three different alternatives: a 50% reduction in harvesting, a 75% reduction, or maintaining the status quo, which is no reduction at all.Lobstering is currently allowed along the Atlantic Coast, despite the fact that disease killed off large numbers of the crustaceans in Long Island Sound about 10 years ago. The majority of U.S. lobsters come from Maine, which is not being considered for a ban because the population there is thriving. Lobstermen pulled in a robust 76.3 million pounds in 2009, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the largest harvest in years. 


    
        
         
      
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Lobster tales: Five-year ban coming to East Coast?  Prices too low for lobstermen's taste  Babysitters for backyard chickens

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(CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy lost jobs in June, for the first time this year, as modest hiring by businesses only partly offset the end of Census jobs.The Labor Department on Friday reported a net loss of 125,000 jobs in the month. That was due primarily to the loss of 225,000 Census jobs that had swelled payrolls in May.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentBusiness hiring rebounded to 83,000, which was still a bit weaker than hoped. While it's up from the jobs private sector employers added in May, it was well below hiring levels in March and April."It's job growth, but it's a kind of growth that doesn't please anybody," said John Silvia, chief economist of Wells Fargo Securities. "We're not creating the jobs at a pace to help people who are looking for jobs. Jobs are going to remain hard to find."Silvia and some other economists said the fact that businesses are still adding jobs should lessen fears that the economy is about to topple into another downturn, a so-called double-dip recession."Though disappointing, employment gains are substantially ahead of the 2002 recovery," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re.But others suggested that the weak labor market raises the risk the economy could fall back into recession later this year.0:00
      /2:26I've been out of work since..."It is a Catch-22 situation," said Sung Won Sohn, economics professor at Cal State University-Channel Islands. "Businesses are reluctant to hire for fear of a double-dip recession. But without jobs, the economy can't grow."Businesses have now added 593,000 jobs since the start of 2010, after cutting 8.5 million in 2008 and 2009 combined. President Obama pointed to the continued private sector job growth in his remarks Friday, but acknowledged more needs to be done."We are headed in the right direction," he said when announcing a government program to bring broadband Internet services to rural areas. "But ...we're not headed there fast enough for a lot of Americans. We're not headed there fast enough for me, either."Republicans charged the report is proof the Obama administration's policy of trying to stimulate the economy and hiring through government spending has been a failure."Every Washington power grab is creating more uncertainty for investors and job creators, and leaving more families without a paycheck," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.The construction sector lost another 22,000 jobs as the pace of building fell sharply with the end of a tax credit for homebuyers. And retailers, hit by softer consumer purchases, trimmed nearly 7,000 jobs.But manufacturers added 9,000 jobs, and transportation companies and warehouses added nearly 15,000 jobs, showing some continued strength in the goods-producing sector. Leisure and hospitality was the leading sector with a gain of 37,000 jobs.There also was a gain of 20,500 temporary workers by business, which could be a sign of future hiring, since employers often bring on temporary workers before they commit to permanent jobs.There are still 339,000 Census workers on the job heading into July, many of whose jobs will be ending. That suggest that July could be another month with an overall loss in jobs.State and local governments cut an additional 10,000 jobs in June. That, was countered by the gain of 27,000 non-Census jobs by the federal government.Unemployment rate dropsThe unemployment rate fell to 9.5% from 9.7% in May. Economists had forecast it would climb to 9.8%. But the improvement was due mostly to many discouraged job seekers not bothering to look for work and no longer being counted as part of the labor force.Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist for Deutsche Bank, said that many of those people stopped looking for work because they lost extended unemployment benefits. To receive the benefits, they needed to be actively looking for work."The decline in the unemployment rate is not a reflection of strength, but rather a sign of discouragement among the ranks of the unemployed," he wrote in a note to clients Friday.Congress has failed to pass an extension of benefits, which resulted in nearly half-million people losing their benefits by the middle of June when the unemployment numbers were compiled. Another 1.25 million have lost their benefits since mid-June, and nearly 800,000 more could lose benefits by the time July numbers are compiled.The 14.6 million people still counted as unemployed have been out of work an average of 35 weeks, a record duration in the 62 years the government has tracked that figure.


    
        
         
      
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Hiring expected to be weak going forward  Jobs blues for gray-haired workers  Endangered species: Government workers



First Published: July 2, 2010: 8:45 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A Minnesota bank was closed by government regulators Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said, bringing the total number of failed banks this year past 100.Community Security Bank of New Prague, Minn., was the 101st in a string of small, regional banks to fail this year. While conditions have improved for many of the nation's largest banks, the lingering effects of the financial crisis continue to take a toll on local lenders across the country.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe FDIC expects the wave of bank failures that started in 2008 to peak sometime this year. Lending activity has picked up in some areas and many troubled firms have found new sources of capital.FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said the agency expects the number of failed banks to exceed last year's total of 140, though he added that failures this year will not approach the historic levels seen during the savings and loan crisis. In 1989, a record 534 banks were closed by regulators.Still, banks have been failing at a rapid pace this year. At this time in 2009, regulators had closed a total of 57 banks.0:00
      /2:25Stress tests: EU compared to U.SAnalysts expect small banks to remain the most likely to fail. Regional lenders continue to suffer from mounting loan losses, particularly in areas like commercial real estate. Big financial firms, on the other hand, have largely returned to profitability.Meanwhile, there is evidence to suggest that the banking industry has recovered from the worst of the financial crisis.The FDIC said in May that the number of firms on its "problem bank list" fell to 775 during the first quarter of this year from 702 in the same period in 2009.Banks and other institutions insured by the FDIC collectively earned approximately $18 billion during the quarter. That's the highest profit since the first quarter of 2008 and was a more than three-fold increase from a year ago.As of the first quarter, the fund had a deficit of $20.7 billion. But that's including money the agency has set aside in anticipation of future bank failures. In addition, the fund grew by $145 million during the quarter -- the first increase in two years.- CNNMoney.com staff writer, Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report.


    
        
         
      
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Europe's banks score an A on stress tests  Treasury selling more Citi stock  Banks paid big $ to execs during crisis

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(CNNMoney.com) -- American Express reported a huge jump in quarterly profits Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates, but wary investors drove the stock lower in after-hours trading.AmEx (AXP, Fortune 500) shares were down 2% in after-hours trading. The financial services company said its net income for the second quarter rose to $1.02 billion, from $337 million in the same period last year.       
         
         
         
      
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CommentAmEx earned 84 cents a share in the latest quarter, up from 9 cents a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 78 cents per share.Sales for the New York-based firm, net of interest expense, were $6.86 billion, up 13% from $6.1 billion a year ago. That beat analysts' forecast of $6.84 billion.Though the results for the second quarter were upbeat, chief executive Kenneth Chenault warned that AmEx customers, like other Americans, are deleveraging their debt as they focus on buying only what they can afford."Today's cardmembers are borrowing less and paying down more of their outstanding debt," Chenault said in a prepared statement. "Over the last several quarters, this has translated into lower interest revenue."Chenault said the company remains cautious about economic conditions, as well as Wall St. reform and difficult year-over-year comparisons in the second half of 2010.In a conference call, chief financial officer Dan Henry also commented on changes in customer behavior and new legislation."It will be interesting to see how those customers react if [companies] have to put fees on debit products," Henry said. "There's a lot of scenarios out there, and we'll have to see how that plays out over time."


    
        
         
      
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Morgan Stanley shares soar on earnings  IMF backs broader stress test in Europe



First Published: July 22, 2010: 5:08 PM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A Minnesota bank was closed by government regulators Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said, bringing the total number of failed banks this year past 100.Community Security Bank of New Prague, Minn., was the 101st in a string of small, regional banks to fail this year. While conditions have improved for many of the nation's largest banks, the lingering effects of the financial crisis continue to take a toll on local lenders across the country.      
         
         
         
      
         Email
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CommentThe FDIC expects the wave of bank failures that started in 2008 to peak sometime this year. Lending activity has picked up in some areas and many troubled firms have found new sources of capital.FDIC spokesman Andrew Gray said the agency expects the number of failed banks to exceed last year's total of 140, though he added that failures this year will not approach the historic levels seen during the savings and loan crisis. In 1989, a record 534 banks were closed by regulators.Still, banks have been failing at a rapid pace this year. At this time in 2009, regulators had closed a total of 57 banks.0:00
      /2:25Stress tests: EU compared to U.SAnalysts expect small banks to remain the most likely to fail. Regional lenders continue to suffer from mounting loan losses, particularly in areas like commercial real estate. Big financial firms, on the other hand, have largely returned to profitability.Meanwhile, there is evidence to suggest that the banking industry has recovered from the worst of the financial crisis.The FDIC said in May that the number of firms on its "problem bank list" fell to 775 during the first quarter of this year from 702 in the same period in 2009.Banks and other institutions insured by the FDIC collectively earned approximately $18 billion during the quarter. That's the highest profit since the first quarter of 2008 and was a more than three-fold increase from a year ago.As of the first quarter, the fund had a deficit of $20.7 billion. But that's including money the agency has set aside in anticipation of future bank failures. In addition, the fund grew by $145 million during the quarter -- the first increase in two years.- CNNMoney.com staff writer, Julianne Pepitone contributed to this report.


    
        
         
      
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Europe's banks score an A on stress tests  Treasury selling more Citi stock  Banks paid big $ to execs during crisis

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(CNNMoney.com) -- The economy grew at a slower pace in the first three months of this year than previously estimated, according to a government report Friday. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2010, according to the Commerce Department, down from the previous reading of a 3% rise.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentEconomists expected the third reading of GDP during the first quarter to hold unrevised at 3%, according to a consensus of economist opinion from Briefing.com.The Commerce Department said increased personal spending continued to stimulate the economy, but those advances were partly offset by "a larger decrease in state and local government spending."The downward revision "leaves the current economic recovery looking even less impressive compared with previous ones," said Paul Dales of Capital Economics in a research note.While Dales expects growth in the second quarter to pick up to an annual rate between 3% and 4%, he said that will not be sustainable. "Growth will soon slow as the rebound in world trade fades, inventory rebuilding slows and the size of fiscal injection shrinks," he said. "Overall, the U.S. economy may be performing much better than those in Europe, but this is still the weakest and longest economic recovery in U.S. post-war history."  During the last three months of 2009, economic activity grew at an annual pace of 5.6%. 


    
        
         
      
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Wall Street reform ready for final votes  What the U.S. can learn from Canada at the G20  The housing head fake, part 362



First Published: June 25, 2010: 8:36 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com)  -- What do pancakes, tapeworms, old soda and the stock market have in common? They're all flat.With nearly seven months of 2010 in the can, stocks are trading right about where they began the year. The Dow closed at 10,428.05 on December 31, 2009. It opened on Monday at 10,424.17.      
         
         
         
      
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Comment    Of course, this long journey back to where we started has hardly been boring. Stocks have been on a wild roller coaster ride. They surged on economic recovery hopes in the first quarter -- only to plunge in the second quarter thanks to renewed fears of a global double-dip recession. Now investors are digesting the latest results from big corporations and analyzing their guidance for the remainder of the year. So we must ask, in the immortal words of Axl Rose, "Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go?"It's not an easy question to answer. Sure, some companies are growing increasingly optimistic. 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), Eli Lilly (LLY, Fortune 500) and Whirlpool (WHR, Fortune 500), for example, all boosted their outlooks last week. And FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) raised its full-year profit target on Monday, citing a "continued moderate recovery in the global economy."  But many economists are still wary. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke rattled investors' nerves last week by saying in front of Congress that the recovery was "unusually uncertain."This shouldn't be a surprise. It's overly simplistic to think that the economy is either going to roar back to life or is doomed to slip back into another recession -- especially when you consider just how painful the last downturn was.For every strong earnings report, there seems to be an equally gloomy piece of economic data. Even good news, like the 24% jump in new home sales in June, is tempered by the fact that the rise is merely coming off a record low in May."This is a half-speed, half-hearted recovery. It's taking its time to unfold and is painfully slow," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist with The PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. "We may move two steps forward and one step back for awhile." 0:00
      /1:18Bernanke testifies before CongressYes, it's frustrating to investors and consumers who want clarity about the economy and markets. We have to get used to it though. Questions about the strength of the economy are likely to persist for some time. Yanick Desnoyers, assistant chief economist with National Bank Financial in Montreal titled a report about the U.S. economy last week "Recovery or relapse?"In that report, Desnoyers indicated that rising profits for big companies in the United States is a positive, but that the chances of a double-dip "are not yet nil." With that in mind, other experts said that people should expect the cloud of uncertainty to linger ... and for a long time to boot. "The market is going to bounce around a lot. One day, we'll get excited about corporate earnings but then there may be overarching economic data that points to the recovery being a tough go," said Paul Nolte, managing director with Dearborn Partners, an investment firm based in Chicago.Hey, corporate misers. Stop hoarding cash and start hiring!Nolte said that the recovery from the Great Recession is likely to be muddled and take years. As the effects of stimulus from Washington starts to fade, the onus will be more on businesses and individuals to start spending again."What we're looking at now is a transition from a government supported economy to a recovery that hopefully will be sustained by consumers and corporations," Nolte said. "But we're getting a mixed picture and a lot of it has to do with debt. Companies have strong balance sheets but consumers still have a lot of debt." Hoffman agreed, adding that until companies truly become more confident about the economy, they are unlikely to make a big push to hire people. He said he thinks the unemployment rate will slowly slip this year from its current level of 9.5% but that it is only likely to fall to just below 9% by the end of 2011. That's obviously not welcome news to those looking for a job. Keep in mind that even though there was a long jobless recovery following the last recession in 2001, the peak unemployment rate after that downturn was just 6.3%.That's why even though some economists think the economy hit bottom sometime in the summer of 2009, many consumers don't feel like that's the case."I think the recovery has been going on for a year but we're still debating whether or not it's a recovery. That speaks to the frailty of it," Hoffman said.- The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney.com, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks. 


    
        
         
      
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Watch video editions of The Buzz  Market will 'drift for the rest of summer'  Bernanke: Recovery 'unusually uncertain'  White House: Unemployment at 9% until 2012



First Published: July 26, 2010: 12:23 PM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- Kevin Landry had to give up his San Diego apartment because he couldn't afford the rent after his federal unemployment benefits were cut off in early June.Since then, Landry and his cocker spaniel, Curley, have been sleeping in his 1991 Dodge Dakota in a church parking lot. He sold his possessions and applied for food stamps in order to survive.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentAnd even though President Obama signed a measure Thursday that extends benefits through November, Landry knows he won't get his $475 weekly check anytime soon. The last time Congress allowed the benefits to lapse, it took a month for him to start getting payments again."I'll just have to scrape by," said Landry, who lost his job as a credit manager for K2 Skis in September 2008. "There's nothing I can do about it. I've learned to deal with it."Though Congress has finally pushed the deadline to file for federal extended insurance through Nov. 30, it could take weeks before the jobless start getting their checks again.Nearly 2.9 million people ran out of benefits in the nearly two months it took Congress to extend the filing deadline beyond June 2.But just when the checks start hitting bank accounts and mailboxes again depends on the state. The long delay wreaked havoc on the state unemployment insurance technology that process the payments. States often have to call in experts to reprogram the computer systems, which are an average of 22 years old.  And state officials have to make sure that the unemployed were eligible to receive benefits during the interim. If the jobless stopped looking for work or earned income during June or July, they may not qualify."States will move as quickly as possible to resume [federal unemployment] payments, but it will not happen overnight," said Rich Hobbie, executive director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. "Because the program has lapsed for over a month, state workforce agencies need to ensure that claimants qualify for all retroactive payments."The unemployed should check their state agency's website for updates or wait for a letter with instructions on restarting their payments and claiming the retroactive sum, said Judy Conti, federal advocacy coordinator at the National Employment Law Project.Some states asked the jobless to continue sending in the forms certifying they were eligible for payments. The unemployed in those places will likely see their checks sooner.But it will still take time, said Steve Meissner, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Economic Security, which told its 64,000 claimants who were affected by the lapse to keep filing."We will do it as quickly as we can," he said, adding the state is still waiting to receive official guidance from the federal Department of Labor. "There are always some ambiguities because unemployment law is pretty complicated."The checks, however, can't come too quickly for the jobless. For many, it's the only way they can afford housing, utilities, food and car payments, Conti said.Vicki Wolf of Lebanon, Pa., is anxiously awaiting her $393 weekly check so she can pay her rent and buy essentials, such as shampoo. The former call center supervisor, who continued sending in her forms to the state, is behind on all her bills because she hasn't had any income since June 5.Pennsylvania officials said in a statement that those who kept filing their paperwork should receive payment within two weeks. The rest of the more than 200,000 state residents who lost their benefits should submit their claims online as soon as possible.Wolf, at least, is one of the luckier ones. She starts a new job at a trucking company on Monday, though she won't see her first paycheck until mid-August. Until then, she'll have to walk 45 minutes to work from her home."I don't have money to buy gas to put in the car," she said.


    
        
         
      
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Jobless benefits restored for millions  Job gloom at all-time high  Unemployment benefits extension nixed for nearly 1 million



First Published: July 23, 2010: 2:32 PM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- The economy grew at a slower pace in the first three months of this year than previously estimated, according to a government report Friday. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, grew at an annual rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2010, according to the Commerce Department, down from the previous reading of a 3% rise.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentEconomists expected the third reading of GDP during the first quarter to hold unrevised at 3%, according to a consensus of economist opinion from Briefing.com.The Commerce Department said increased personal spending continued to stimulate the economy, but those advances were partly offset by "a larger decrease in state and local government spending."The downward revision "leaves the current economic recovery looking even less impressive compared with previous ones," said Paul Dales of Capital Economics in a research note.While Dales expects growth in the second quarter to pick up to an annual rate between 3% and 4%, he said that will not be sustainable. "Growth will soon slow as the rebound in world trade fades, inventory rebuilding slows and the size of fiscal injection shrinks," he said. "Overall, the U.S. economy may be performing much better than those in Europe, but this is still the weakest and longest economic recovery in U.S. post-war history."  During the last three months of 2009, economic activity grew at an annual pace of 5.6%. 


    
        
         
      
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Wall Street reform ready for final votes  What the U.S. can learn from Canada at the G20  The housing head fake, part 362



First Published: June 25, 2010: 8:36 AM ET

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(CNNMoney.com) -- A key index of consumer prices fell in May, but it was up 2% over the past 12 months, the government said Thursday.The Consumer Price Index, the Labor Department's key measure of inflation, fell by 0.2% in May on a monthly basis. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a 0.1% drop.      
         
         
         
      
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CommentThe government report attributed most of the month-to-month decline to the energy index, which fell by 2.9% in May. The gasoline index fell by 5.2% in May, and was down 27% over the year."Up to this point, the U.S. economy has been the beneficiary of an 'inflation-less' recovery," said Jim Baird, partner and chief investment strategist for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, in a research note."While [some] point to the risk of inflation down the road," he added, "there is still sufficient slack in the economy to keep price levels from moving higher."Core CPI and inflation: The closely watched core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, ticked up by 0.1% in May after being unchanged in April. That matched economists' expectations.It was only the second monthly increase in core CPI so far this year. The rate is down by 0.9% over the previous 12 months."The core inflation rate remains uncomfortably low," Baird said. "The economy may be expanding, but at a pace that isn't inspiring."The core rate is a gauge of inflation. Experts say concerns are sparked only when core CPI rises consistently by 0.2% or more each month. "Muted inflation, and the risk of deflation, seems likely to provide the Fed continued incentive to maintain its accommodative stance," Baird said.


    
        
         
      
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75% of modified home loans will redefault  Oil spill ads: 3 tasteless spots



First Published: June 17, 2010: 8:36 AM ET