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Recession Briefing 11.11: The Past and the Present that Bite You

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

U.S. job seekers are crashing into the worst employment market in years and background checks that reach deeper than ever into their pasts. The result: a surge of people seeking to legally clear their criminal records. (Wall Street Journal)

There were fewer than 2.5 million job openings in September, down 35% from a year ago — and less than one for every six people unemployed — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (CNN/Money)

Economist Gary Shilling has calculated that 58 percent of the population is dependent on the government for “major parts of their income.” By 2018, Shilling estimates, an astounding 67 percent of Americans could be dependent on the government for their livelihood. (U.S. News & World Report)

The number of homeowners getting help from the government’s massive foreclosure program is growing, according to data released Tuesday, but it is unclear how many of these borrowers might still lose their homes. (Washington Post)

Casey Mulligan thinks that, as many have feared, this part of the recovery will be “jobless,” in the sense that employment and hours will not rise significantly, and may continue to fall. (New York Times/Economix)

Prices of existing homes fell in 80% of the nation’s metropolitan markets in the third quarter as distressed sales — foreclosures and short sales — accounted for nearly a third of all deals. (Los Angeles Times)

An important question for policymakers is whether there will be “a new normal” for unemployment once the recession is over, and if so, what that level of unemployment will be. (CBS Moneywatch)

Here’s the bad news about the global recession’s potentially coming to an end: the recovery could spark a massive energy crisis with increased demand for fossil fuels from China and other developing countries, tighter oil supplies and skyrocketing oil prices. (Time)

A full-fledged housing recovery will remain elusive until the market can absorb all the houses and apartments that were built during the housing boom. And on that front, progress has been slow. (CNN/Money)

Unemployment likely will remain high for the next several years because the economic recovery won’t be strong enough to spur robust hiring, Federal Reserve officials warned Tuesday. (Associated Press)

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