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Recession Briefing: Why Yellow Lights Are Shorter

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

Some cash-strapped cities have been shortening yellow lights in order to nab more drivers with tickets — and raise revenue. (AlterNet)

A little-noticed effect of the recession is the incredible shrinking work shift. Millions of workers are taking multiple part-time or freelance jobs, jumping back and forth repeatedly between work, other pursuits and more work. These weird schedules are creating new challenges. (Wall Street Journal)

In an era of populist outrage and nearly double-digit unemployment, the average Wall Street bonus jumped 25% in 2009 to $123,850 as financial firms rebounded from the recession with help from U.S. taxpayers’ money. (USA Today)

Lending by the banking industry fell by $587 billion, or 7.5 percent, in 2009, the largest annual decline since the 1940s, as the number of troubled financial institutions rose sharply, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported Tuesday. (Washington Post)

New data from 2007 show a widening income gap before the recession. “The incomes of the top 400 American households soared to a new record high in dollars and as a share of all income in 2007, while the income tax rates they paid fell to a record low.” (LA Times)

The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers edged up in January as manufacturers stepped up job cuts, data showed on Tuesday, but probably not enough to alter views that the economy is on the brink of creating jobs. (Reuters)

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday the U.S. economic recovery was “extremely unbalanced,” driven largely by high earners benefiting from recovering stock markets and large corporations. (Reuters)

Is the recession causing an increase in impotence among young men? A report from the Family Doctor Association says there has been a rise in the number of men below 30 who are seeing general practitioners for stress and depression related problems, including that one. (TopNews)

Nearly 25% of all mortgage borrowers are underwater. Nevada was the state with the worst record at 70% of all mortgaged properties underwater. (CNN/Money)

Catherine Rampell looks at how people’s driving habits have changed amid the recession. Miles traveled by car declined sharply in 2008 — when oil prices were historically quite high — but picked up in the second half of 2009. (New York Times/Economix)

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Tags: business, economy, jobs, layoffs, News, personal finance, politics, real estate