Recession Briefing: Bull Market Turns One Year Old

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

On Wednesday investors will celebrate the first birthday of the current bull market — the one born a day after stocks hit rock bottom on March 9, 2009, ending the second-worst stock market meltdown in history. (USA Today)

The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey. (CNN/Money)

Millions of Americans have been forced to rely on unemployment payments for extended periods as the nation struggles through its longest period of high joblessness in a generation, and critics are taking aim, saying that the Depression-era program created as a temporary bridge for laid-off workers is turning into an expensive entitlement. (Washington Post)…

Is it a Mancession or Isn’t It?

A few weeks ago we wrote about the reasons we shouldn’t be crowing about the “mancession”—among them, single moms are hurting and women have less choice about their jobs.

A new survey by Decitica offers new evidence that women are worse off than men in the downturn. Sort of. The market strategy and research firm says that their poll of more than 1,000 people showed that “more women than men are depressed, scared, worried and stressed.”…

So Much for the Mancession

In the 1970s, women and minorities got bashed by the downturn; they were most vulnerable to LIFO—“last in-first out,” a principle that labor unions swore by. In 1974, when GM laid off 2,400 workers, that included almost every woman on the assembly line, since they had not been hired until four years after the Civil Rights Act was passed.

This time around, we’re seeing a Mancession. The vast majority of the jobs lost in the downturn have been held by men—manufacturing and construction have been hit harder than health care and education. Women now make up 49.83 percent of the American workforce—more than ever before.

But reality isn’t all simple and shiny.

The biggest reason to hold off on celebrating: Do we want more work or do we want more choice? They’re not the same thing…

Recession Lexicon: Mancession

/n. A downturn in which men are affected more than women. Several economists, including Mark Perry, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan who coined the term, agree that men have been falling behind in several areas, from life expectancy to employment. In this recession, American Enterprise Institute scholar Christina Hoff Summers points out, 80 percent of the jobs lost were held by men, since they dominate manufacturing and construction.

Thanks to Derek Thompson at The Atlantic for uncovering the mancession trend.

Recession Briefing 7.6

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

Vice-President Joe Biden yesterday admitted that the Obama Administration “misread” the economy earlier this year. (ABC News)

As galleries close and art nonprofits suffer from cutbacks in funding and the loss of support from private institutions, the recession is adding new meaning to “struggling artist.” (Gotham Gazette)

Tens of thousands of laid-off workers have turned to retraining as a lifeline. Yet for all the popularity of these government-financed programs, there are questions about whether they actually work. (New York Times)

The collapse in home prices is finally beginning to hit the country’s wealthiest neighborhoods. (ABC News)…

Recession Briefing 5.19

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

Fire-sale auctions of mansions, yachts, sports cars and other trappings of wealth have become increasingly common as the rich become less rich. (Wall Street Journal)

New home building figures have unexpectedly hit a record low, with unemployment and foreclosures deterring builders. (CNN/Money)

“Green shoots of human compassion abound,” writes Derek Thompson. “So should we all stop worrying and learn to love a world with much less money?” (The Atlantic)

The unemployment rate for adult men is ahead of the national average at 9.4 percent versus 8.9 percent for all workers. The implications may hamper the recovery as families that once had male breadwinners struggle. (Reuters)