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Recession Briefing: Flying the Private Skies Again

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

Gingerly, some business travelers are venturing back into private aircraft after the battered economy — and a public outcry against that perk of fat cats, the corporate jet — walloped the general aviation industry starting in 2008. (New York Times)

The longest and deepest U.S. economic slump in seven decades has been dubbed the “Great Recession” by the Associated Press. The AP Stylebook Online notified subscribers this month it had added the term as a reference for the downturn that began in December 2007. (Bloomberg)

Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. workforce lacked adequate employment in January and struggled to make ends meet with reduced resources and bleak job prospects, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday. (Reuters)

President Barack Obama welcomed a U.S. Senate vote that advanced a modest job-creation bill on Monday, calling it an “important step forward” and vowing to work with both major parties to pass legislation. (Reuters)

Three dozen states will launch programs in March and April to distribute almost $300 million in rebates to consumers buying energy-efficient appliances. (USA Today)

The Obama administration says the nation’s small businesses are waiting for loans so they can start growing again, sparking economic recovery. (Washington Post)

“While the mystery of what killed the great American jobs machine has yielded no shortage of debatable answers,” write Barry Lynn and Phillip Longman, “one of the more compelling potential explanations has been conspicuously absent from the national conversation: monopolization.” (Washington Monthly)

It’s officially America Saves Week, but according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), far too many Americans aren’t saving, and they’re placing themselves at risk for a downward spiral of debt. (WalletPop)

“It’s tempting to dismiss more good news about the housing market as simply another head fake,” write Paul LaMonica. “But it might be finally time to say the market is slowly but surely getting better.” (CNN/Money)

The recession can now claim another troublesome record: state tax collections shrank at the end of 2009 for a fifth consecutive quarter, the longest period of continuing state revenue declines since at least the Great Depression, according to a new report.  (New York Times)

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Tags: energy, jobs, jobs bill, media, obama, The Unemployed Life, travel