By ANTON TROIANOVSKI
The Wall St. Journal
WHEATON, Md. — In another sign of the harsh toll being exacted by the economic downturn, the number of Americans unemployed for six months or more has risen sharply over the past year and is likely to increase even more.
The number of people unemployed for at least 26 weeks has risen to 1.6 million — up 37% in the past year. That is almost double the percentage increase for the overall unemployed, according to a Labor Department report released Thursday. More than 18% of the unemployed have been looking for work for more than half a year, compared with about 11% at the start of the 2001 recession.
If the economic downturn continues, "There’s going to be greater pain hitting more people…than certainly happened in 2000," said Rebecca Blank, a Brookings Institution scholar who studies unemployment. One reason: A combination of long-term and short-term economic changes is making new jobs harder to find...
Content suppressed by ://URLFAN, for full article visit source
Here Come the Media Attacks on ObamaFrom: progressivenewsdaily.com
Post Date: 2008-03-04 15:11:25
By Eric Boehlert
Media Matters for America
Original Post 2/29/08
Clear signs suggest that Obama’s press treatment is going to get rough, as the media begins to adopt GOP spin.
With Sen. Barack Obama now emerging as the Democratic front-runner, clear signs suggest that his press treatment will soon change and that the media will fall back into their routine of viewing — and critiquing — leading Democrats through the eyes of Republican spin.
Just last week, we saw how a single li...
more Banks should accept mortgage principal cuts: BernankeFrom: progressivenewsdaily.com
Post Date: 2008-03-04 15:08:03
By Barbara Liston
Reuters
cross posted at EarthTimes Online
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Banks may have to swallow reductions in the principal of some troubled home loans to ward off greater losses that could result from outright default, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday.
Warning that mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are likely to rise, with more declines in house prices, Bernanke called for active measures from both the public and private sectors to stabilize...
more Bozell Column: Obamaholics UnanimousFrom: progressivenewsdaily.com
Post Date: 2008-03-04 16:02:26
by Brent Bozell
NewsBusters
Now that Barack Obama is closing in on the Democratic nomination, some are wondering whether the media will be tougher in their coverage. There’s a better question: is it possible to be any softer? The media writ large have been sounding like they’re covering a messiah more than a man. So was Hillary Clinton right to complain that Barack Obama has been more celebrated rather than vetted?
Let’s be clear. Hillary Clinton has been the beneficiary of so many cotton-...
more 
Websites mentioned in article
Buzz Words mentioned in article:
How popular is www.progressivenewsdaily.com?
