Recession Briefing 10.23: Cities Least Hit by Recession

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

America’s strongest economies through the recession have one thing in common — home prices that never got too hot or too cold. Here are the 40 cities in America least touched by the recession. (BusinessWeek)

A broad majority in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll say the worst recession in generations is not over, and most remain worried about the direction of the economy and their own financial futures. (Washington Post)

A top White House economist says spending from the $787 billion economic stimulus has already had its biggest impact on economic growth and will likely not contribute to significant expansion next year. (Associated Press)

Recession Briefing 10.22: Alligator Demand Sinks

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

The global economic recession is taking a bite out of an unlikely industry: the American alligator market. A drop in world demand for designer gator-skin handbags, watch straps and belts has caused an unprecedented decline in the industry. (USA Today)

The Obama administration plans to order companies that have received exceptionally large amounts of bailout money from the government to slash compensation for their highest-paid executives by about half on average. (Washington Post)…

Five hundred people applied recently for one administrative assistant job that pays $13 an hour. (New York Times)

Recession Briefing 10.21: Downturn Sends College Prices Up

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

The recession helped push up the cost of college this year, with students facing bigger bills because of reduced state spending on higher education and diminished campus endowments. Four-year public colleges in the U.S. raised annual tuition and fees by an average 6.5%, to $7,020 this fall. (Los Angeles Times)

The financial panics of last September and October will always be part of the story of this recession. But recent research questions the claim that the financial panics themselves contributed to their contemporaneous and severe employment downturns. (New York Times/Economix)

A British survey has found that more people are visiting museums during the recession. (Art Daily)

Recession Briefing 10.20: Hawaii Schools Out for Recession

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

School’s out for recession: Teacher furloughs in Hawaii will shut down the school system for 17 Fridays beginning this week. (Honolulu Advertiser)

Companies across the economy are holding off on hiring even as the profit outlook improves, amid economic uncertainty and their own success at raising productivity in rough waters. (Wall Street Journal)

Among the recession’s more unlikely victims have been infertile Western couples wanting children and prepared to travel abroad to use Indian surrogate mothers as a cheaper alternative to fertility clinics back home. (Agence France Presse)…

Recession Briefing 10.19: From Middle-Class to Homeless

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

If Congress fails to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, Ricky Macoy of Quinlan, Texas plans to take it out on the Republican Party by camping on his congressman’s lawn. (Huffington Post)

Growing numbers of Americans who have lost houses to foreclosure are landing in homeless shelters. (New York Times)

The entire financial crisis in seven minutes. (YouTube/iheartwallstreet)…

Recession Briefing 10.16: Fido’s Recession

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

More than 80% of pet shelters have reported taking pets whose owners could not afford to keep them because they lost their home or job. (USA Today)

“Right now, the economy is abundant with innovation — so much so that it might end up saving the day or, at least, paving the way to future prosperity,” writes Daniel Harrison. (The Big Money)

Businesses with federal stimulus contracts have created few jobs in states with the worst unemployment rates, according to data released Thursday. The first report card shows the federal Recovery Act money means hiring more electricians, carpenters, and others across the country. (New York Times, Christian Science Monitor)…

Recession Briefing 10.15: Stimulating Tax Dollars?

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

The public will get a chance to see in detail how their stimulus money is being spent when data is released about the $787 billion stimulus package on the website Recovery.gov today. (Huffington Post)

Concerned about Social Security recipients, veterans, and people on disability payments struggling to make ends meet, President Obama is asking Congress to send them each a $250 check next year. (Christian Science Monitor)

A new study found that the recession is taking a big toll on working moms: Over half of the 1,000-plus women surveyed reported working longer hours, while just one in four women without children and one in three men reported doing so. (U.S. News & World Report)…

Recession Briefing 10.14: The Military’s Own Upside to the Downturn

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

Aided by a bleak job market, the U.S. military met all of its recruitment goals in the past year for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973. (Reuters)

The nation’s census chief said Tuesday that the housing crisis, economic recession and waves of new immigrants pose enormous challenges that could make an accurate 2010 count more difficult and expensive than a decade ago. (Los Angeles Times)

“The recession … has fundamentally changed the traditional business travel paradigm,” said Charles Petruccelli, the president of the American Express Global Travel Services division. In the last year, he added, “we have seen some companies cutting their travel expenses by 70 percent.” (New York Times)…

Recession Briefing 10.13: When Prison is Better Than the Job Market

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.
Inmates know that the economy is still weak and the job prospects aren’t good, officials say. With no job and nowhere to live, some inmates have decided they’re better off in jail. (New Hampshire Union-Leader)

“Student loans have become the 21st century version of indentured servitude.” (The Atlantic)

The financial crisis has blown a hole in the rosy forecasts of pension funds that cover teachers, police officers and other government employees, casting into doubt whether these public systems will be able to keep their promises to future generations. (Washington Post)…

Recession Briefing 10.9: Rappers Not Recession-Proof!

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

The recession is even affecting rappers like Slim Thug, their hangers-on, and those that make their bling. “I haven’t sold a single diamond-encrusted glock in about two years.” (Daily Show)

As Harvard cuts back as a result of the recession, students no longer have hot breakfasts in their dorms and varsity athletes are no longer guarantees free sweat suits. (New York Times)

Airline delays at South Florida airports have eased during the recession because fewer people are traveling and fewer planes are flying. (Miami Herald)…