Recession Obsession: Economy Bites

We’re enjoying a new web show, Economy Bites, that just hit our radar screen. Created just last year in the heart of the recession, it’s dedicated to making cooking cheap and easy — perfect for those of us who have less money without out jobs or less time because we’re working so hard to stay employed.

Hosted by Texas native Allie Schwartz, the show’s motto is, “Cook on Sunday, eat til Thursday.” It’s not exactly gourmand fare. If the Food Network is steamy, glistening food porn, then Economy Bites is amateur food porn…

Recession Briefing: Booze Gets Pricier

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

Americans’ love affair with top-shelf booze cooled last year as the recession took a toll on high-priced tipples. People drank more liquor but turned to cheaper brands, according to a report by an industry group. (Washington Post)

On Tuesday night, a new New York City reality TV show, “Job Hunt,” kicked off, starring actual job seekers. The 10-part series, which runs on the NYC Life network, tries to help New Yorkers get back on their feet if they are out of work. (Christian Science Monitor)

The number of car dealerships in the United States has been shrinking since the 1940s, and the Big Three’s recent troubles have hastened the slide. So what happens to the abandoned showrooms? Many stay vacant, but others see opportunity in the empty space. Here are some of the best examples of “recycled” dealerships in North America. (The Big Money)…

Screwed: 700 at DST Systems Inc.

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 1,488

In Kansas City, DST Systems Inc. is expected to lay off 700 employees, 7 percent of the company workforce… Gov. Gibbons of Nevada is proposing a budget plan that will include 300 layoffs… In the metro Atlanta area, CompuCredit Corp. has terminated 200 positions… Miami’s AeroThrust Corp. has announced 129 layoffs, effective April 1… Michigan’s Steelcase furniture maker has laid off 65 workers, claiming that another 85 cuts are possible… The Mamaroneck School District is considering to lay off 54 employees by next year…Omaha-based Infogroup has laid off 40 employees this week… Hazleton, PA. is warned to expect an undeclared number of municipal layoffs this coming May…

The Recession Will End… In Years, Not Months

Most Americans think we’ll be in recession for two more years. According to a new poll from Gallop/USA Today, just as many people think the recession will end in a year as do those who think it will end in five years, with the rest of the respondents falling in the middle.

Could such gloom just be the winter blues? Perhaps, but the findings are similar to those from July:

When asked in an open-ended question how long they expect it to be before the economy starts to recover, 30% now say five years or more, up from 19% in February but similar to the 28% who said so in December. Overall, 68% of Americans now expect it to take two years or more before the economy starts to recover, little changed from 71% in February. One in four (27%) now expect it to take less than two years, about the same as the 24% in February who said this.

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Recession Briefing: Highway Robbery on the Rise

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

Thieves are increasingly swiping tractor-trailers filled with goods, triggering a spike in cargo theft on the nation’s highways. (Wall Street Journal)

Nationally, 37 million people — about one in eight Americans — visited food pantries and soup kitchens in 2009, compared with 25 million in 2006, according to Feeding America, the national hunger-relief network that did the study. Officials say the numbers really began to skyrocket at the onset of the recession in late 2007. (Chicago Sun-Times)

President Obama’s proposals to tax and curb the activities of Wall Street have thrown an unpredictable element into the debate over financial regulatory reform. They also have touched off an intensive new round of lobbying and raised questions in Congress over whether his plan will add urgency or merely bog things down. (New York Times)…

Recession Briefing: Bonuses are Back

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

Goldman Sachs, the world’s richest investment bank, could be about to pay its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein a bumper bonus of up to $100 million in defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against such payouts. (Times of London)

Professional sports teams, concert venues and opera houses may all be seeing drops in attendance as a result of the recession, but suburban community colleges are having the opposite problem. They’re running out of room. (Chicago Daily Herald)

California wine shipments fell in 2009 for the first time in 16 years as purchases in the U.K., the biggest export market, plunged during the global recession. (Bloomberg)…

Recession Briefing: Big Boost for GDP

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

The U.S. economy grew at the fastest pace in more than six years during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a government report Friday. The nation’s gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, rose at a 5.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter. (CNN/Money)

Shoppers are taking haggling to new heights in the recession. A recent study found that 66 percent of American consumers had haggled at least once in the preceding six months, with an 88 percent ka-ching rate on gadgets, clothes, furniture and steak. (Washington Post)

Ben Bernanke won the backing of the Senate for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve by a comfortable margin Thursday. Even with that storm behind him, Mr. Bernanke faces formidable political and economic challenges. (Wall Street Journal)

Recession Briefing: Paulson Defends AIG Rescue

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

In last night’s State of the Union Address, President Obama promised to focus intently on the issue of most immediate concern to the nation: jobs. Obama sought to restore public confidence in his administration and to persuade Americans that he is directing his attention more fully to the economy. (New York Times)

Hit by the recession, Mexican migrants sent home 15.7% less in remittances last year, a record drop, the country’s central bank reports. Although it marked the second straight yearly decline — and the second drop since tracking began in 1996 — migrants still sent home big bucks: about $21.2 billion. (USA Today/On Deadline)

College and university endowments in the United States and Canada collectively lost $93 billion during the 2009 fiscal year, according to a study jointly released Thursday. The average institution lost 18.7% after fees. (Forbes)…

Recession Briefing: Americans Have Money for Gifts, But Not Food

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

Nearly one in five Americans said they lacked the money to buy the food they needed at some point in the last year, according to a survey co-sponsored by the Gallup organization and released Tuesday by an anti-hunger group. (New York Times)

Consumers spent an average of $811 on holiday gifts, significantly more than the $699 they initially planned to spend, according to a survey. About 4 in 5 consumers bought gifts, and many shoppers bought for themselves, the poll found. (Los Angeles Times)

“How do I know when the next recession will occur? All I have to do is ask my wife,” writes Gene Marks. “That’s because women know this answer. Not men.” (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

Recession Briefing: Add a Job, Write it Off

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

President Barack Obama’s push to create jobs includes a new tax credit for small businesses that add employees. It is an idea, however, that fell flat in Congress when Obama first proposed it last year because lawmakers didn’t know how to target the credit effectively. (Associated Press)

“Recognizing that financial blowups are as dangerous as foreign enemies or nuclear weapons, Congress should establish … a ‘West Point for regulators,’” writes Jason Zweig. “A rigorous training program to instill expertise and ‘a sense of honor and duty.’” (Wall Street Journal)

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this interactive map shows how counties across the U.S. are faring in terms of unemployment. (Washington Post)…