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Recession Briefing 10.02: Downturn Can’t Keep Sports Fans Down

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

The recession has sapped our wealth and ushered in an era of high unemployment and consumer frugality, yet sports fans — as they always do — are still coming back to the ballpark. (Associated Press)

Money to bury Detroit’s poor has dried up, forcing struggling families to abandon their loved ones in the morgue freezer. (CNN/Money)

The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September as employers cut far more jobs than expected, evidence that the longest recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain. (Associated Press)

Wall Street’s bulls went running for cover on Thursday after a fusillade of new reports suggested the economy’s initial bounce from the bottom could be leveling off. (New York Times)

The number of U.S. lenders that can’t collect on at least 20 percent of their loans hit an 18-year high, signaling that more bank failures and losses could slow an economic recovery. (Bloomberg)

Unemployment is rising around the world as the recession leaves few corners untouched — but sharp differences remain between companies directly hit by financial or housing-market collapses and those that have deliberately protected jobs with expensive measures. (Associated Press)

As of Saturday, it will have been a year since the U.S. Congress created the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, originally intended as a bailout just for the financial system. (Forbes)

After the shopping binge inspired by the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” incentive program ended, U.S. auto sales plunged in September and the industry sunk back to the depths from which it started. (Washington Post)

Singles have been hit harder in this recession than married folks, losing jobs at more than a 50% higher rate. (USA Today)

“The economy is clearly in a recovery, but it faces lots of problems,” says Lyle Gramley, a Washington-based economist. “We are not at all soaring like an eagle.” (Christian Science Monitor)

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