Recession Briefing: Snow Slams Job Market

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

This month’s blizzards are battering jobs. Economists estimate that between 90,000 and 150,000 jobs could be lost in February, as the snow kept people home from work and stalled hiring during the month. (CNN/Money)

The Obama administration projected Thursday that the unemployment rate would fall this year by only a little, if at all, and would remain well over 6 percent until 2015. (New York Times)

About a quarter of the 8.4 million jobs eliminated since the recession began won’t be coming back and will ultimately need to be replaced by other types of work in growing industries, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. (Wall Street Journal)…

Recession Briefing: Less Spending on Love

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

Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they plan to spend less than $50 on Valentine’s Day this year, a new survey of adult Americans finds. One-quarter of Americans (25%) say they plan to spend nothing. (Zogby International)

New data shows that poor people face a much higher rate of unemployment than people with higher incomes. “A true labor market depression faced those in the bottom two deciles of the income distribution, a deep labor market recession prevailed among those in the middle of the distribution, and close to a full employment environment prevailed at the top. There was no labor market recession for America’s affluent.” (Time/Curious Capitalist)

The White House expects nonfarm-payroll employment to increase by an average of 95,000 jobs a month this year, suggesting the U.S. labor market will continue to heal slowly as the economy emerges from its two-year slump. (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 11.19: Making America Run

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

Americans are lacing up athletic shoes and signing up to run in 5Ks, 10-milers and even marathons in record numbers. Running “gives you something to control — you can’t control the stock market or the economy, but you can control your health,” said Ryan Lamppa with Running USA. (Agence France Presse)

With the national unemployment rate above 10%, and employed folks looking to bolster budgets by taking second jobs, the competition for seasonal retail, movie theater, package-delivery and other holiday posts is fierce this year. (USA Today)

A Human Rights Watch report on Cuba takes the government of President Raúl Castro to task for, among other things, jailing those without jobs. The report cited the cases of dozens of people charged with “dangerousness” for being unemployed. (New York Times/Economix)…

Recession Briefing 11.16: Going Abroad for Jobs

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

With the nation’s unemployment rate at a 26-year-high of 10.2%, more Americans are hunting for, and landing, work overseas, according to staffing companies and executive search firms. (USA Today)Some are now recession refugees. (Recessionwire)

The recession is intensifying rumblings of discontent from Generation X. The 32- to 44-year-olds are just waiting for the economy to pick up so they can hop to the next job, find something more fulfilling and get what they think they deserve. (Associated Press)

Corporate failures have slowed, as companies once on the verge of default have found a new life. These companies are now refinancing their balance sheets with new debt, pushing out maturities on existing loans or using distressed-debt exchanges to avoid a bankruptcy filing. (Wall Street Journal)…

Recession Brieifing 11.03: The Underwear Model of Economics

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

The “underwear model” as an economic metric has recently gained in popularity, following Alan Greenspan’s to an NPR correspondent to the effect that the less men’s underwear is sold the worse off the economy. But the metric might not be as revealing as it’s purported to be. (New York Mag)

The pain of the financial crisis has economists striving to understand precisely why it happened and how to prevent a repeat. (Wall Street Journal)

Artist Andres Zapata has been working on a project called Recession Nation, collected photos, short stories, visual art and poems from Baltimore and abroad. He recently published them in the book “The Recession Nation Project.” (Baltimore Sun)…

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)

If You Love America, Keep the Money Hole Open

The Onion’s video about America’s money hole (the place where we like to throw all our money, sometimes adding gasoline and a light) is funny, but dated.

Or is it?

This week on Slate’s The Big Money, Heidi Moore argues that the next entity the government needs to bail out is the government itself. …

Recession Briefing 9.9: Downturn Unleashes Strays

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

The number of stray and abandoned dogs in the U.K. jumped 11 percent in the past year — the biggest surge in a decade — possibly because of the financial crisis. (CNN)

Haunted by fewer job offers this season, recent graduates with jobs took a hit to their salaries. Those who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in 2009 received a $48,633 average starting salary offer, down 1.2% from last year. (Wall Street Journal)

Unless real reform happens soon, we face the prospect of another bubble-bust-bailout cycle that will be even more dangerous than the one we’ve just been through. (The New Republic)…