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Recession Briefing 8.5: Restaurants Hiring Hot Help

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Are bars and restaurants hiring hotter servers as a result of the recession? Hugo Lindgren thinks so. (New York)

As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. (Wall Street Journal)

A government report says a middle-income family with a child born last year will spend about $221,000 raising that child through age 17. (Associated Press)

While construction workers have been hit hard by the recession, the people who make sure existing homes run smoothly — plumbers, electricians and the like — say they are still finding work, albeit not as much as in the good times. (New York Times)

The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March. (Associated Press)

The rate of homeownership is forecast to keep tumbling in the next decade to lows not seen since the 1980s, a trend that could redefine a key element of the American dream even after the housing market recovers. (USA Today)

The government says the number of newly-laid off workers seeking unemployment insurance fell last week, even as the number of laid-off workers continuing to claim benefits rose. (Associated Press)

While they’re still way out of range of the average joe, lavish apartments are selling at steep discounts for people with a few million — or more — to spare. (ABC News)

The days of cataclysmic layoffs may be waning, but companies are still cutting every position they can spare. (CNN/Money)

NYU professor Nouriel Roubini looks at whether there are bright spots to be found amid the global recession. (Forbes)

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