Yahoo in the rough

The once popular search engine in the 90s has gone through a steady decline; Yahoo is having a hard time. The Los Angeles Times mostly blames Yahoo's CEO, Carol Bartz for the gradual down-spiral of the website, whose stocks have fallen 15% in this year alone. However, according to USA Today, the struggle can be to having a difficult time trying to keep up with new booming websites such as Facebook and Google, which are the two dominating companies as of this moment. Twitter is also another company that is trying to keep up with top websites by pushing its advertisement spots hard on companies, says New York Times. If you want to have a successful website, then providing its advertisement services seems to be the best definition of it. Google and Facebook seem to dominate well, all while Twitter is beginning to follow in its footsteps and Yahoo is struggling.

Yahoo's CEO Carol Bartz struggles to maintain
interest for Yahoo users after her 4 year contract is
 almost over(LA Times).

-Betty Villalobos 10/10/10

Bank of America foreclosures on halt

With the unstable economy and lost jobs all over the U.S., home owners are feeling the crunch when pay cuts or unemployment make it difficult to keep up with mortgage payments. BofA is trying to work out a solution. According to The Los Angeles Times, this temporary pause in the foreclosure process could hurt the economy because home buyers could be concerned about buying foreclosure homes, and simultaneously also pause the rebuilding of the economy . On the other hand, however, USA Today points out that the halt can actually boost the economy in short term within the estimated six months of wait since there won't be low priced homes on the market yet, which means that the economy will have time to recover. After that, the economy would be stable enough or the new low-priced homes. The New York Times looks at a completely different angle by elaborating on the problems that would arise with title insurance, or lack there of, where owners of fore closed homes could claim the home rightfully theirs. Although this halt seems like a breath of air for people with potential foreclosed homes, it will simply put them in "home-owner limbo."

Homeowners line up outside the LA Convention center in hopes of finding an answer through loan modifications through the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America. (Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times)

-Betty Villalobos 10/9/10

Jobs lost but unemployment claims oddly decline

As the economy continues with its rough patch, the people of the United States become more and more anxious to find ways to make ends meet. According to The New York Times, local governments are making history by making the biggest job cuts in 30 years, ever since the 1981-2 recession. The article states that 76, 000 government jobs have been lost and 143,000 in just 3 months, while private employers have been hiring at an increasing rate. In addition, USA Today adds the federal government has also recently made approximately 77,000  cuts form the U.S. Census, "as expected". However, with all these unemployed individuals, not many of them seem to be rushing to apply for unemployment benefits according to Los Angeles Times. The number of new files claims dropped 11,000 in the latest week, and the Los Angeles Times believes it's because there is a small "steady increase in job creation." It is unclear if the job is actually increasing or decreasing.

The 3 month change in local-government jobs.
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver)

-Betty Villalobos 10/8/2010

Elaborating on Unemployment

For the past few years, the recession has had an effect on the hearts of many Americans due to job loss, home foreclosures and possibly bankruptcy. Unemployment and the decline in job opportunities leads many into a larger slump, all-the-while affecting the US economy. The New York Times reports that private employers cut nearly 39,000 jobs this previous September, compared to the 10,000 lost in August. While the Los Angeles Times elaborates by adding that the increase is due to enormous budget pressures and that there is minimal hope for hiring gains the rest of the year. Though unemployment severely increased, USA Today reports applications for unemployment benefits has decreased the fourth time in 5 weeks and the rate of jobless Americans is predicted to shift from 9.7% to 9.6%. Though the numbers appear inconsistent, it seems to indicate employers are willing to step up in hiring new employees.

(Source: Labor Department, USA Today)

(Source: Labor Department, USA Today)

Charts indicate shift in unemployment applications from September to October 2010.

-Ida Corporal 10/7/2010

Employment and the on-going recession

With a 9.5% national employment rate, the recession gradually continues and depresses many of those unemployed and/or facing unemployment. However, according to USA Today, electronic company Samsung hopes to increase employment, specifically in Austin, by expanding their company to increase more job opportunities and their payroll for current employees. Despite popular belief that the holiday season will increase potential jobs, the New York Times reports that "holiday hiring" does not look so optimistic given the downgrading of most companies due to the predicted "slow Christmas". Additionally, the "offshoring" and outsourcing of jobs to other countries, according to the Los Angeles Times, can potentially better the economy and also create more possibilities for American laborers in the future.

Chinese workers answer customer queries at a Hewlett-Packard Co. call center in Dalian in Liaoning province. In addition to their existing offshore operations, HP is laying off human resources employees in California and nine other states and transferring their functions to Panama.
(Photo Credit: Associated Press)

-Ida Corporal 10/6/2010

Community College Summit Pushes for Employment Recovery

By raising the profile of community colleges nationwide, President Barrack Obama is hoping to induce labor recovery through the advancement of education. The president plans to align business leaders, the White House and educators in order to better enhance not only the workforce but also the strength of community colleges. The Los Angeles Times details President Obama's proposal to boost graduation rates, and the working coalition with companies to provide jobs to graduates. Companies that have signed on such as McDonald's and Gap, according to USA Today, are looking to hire up to 1,2000 graduates from community colleges in the next year. While the first two articles seem to be in favor of the Obama's summit, the The New York Times argues whether or not the plan will benefit the economy due to the already minimal government funding to community colleges. 

President Obama remarks alongside Dr. Jill Biden at the Community

College Summit in the East Room at the White House in Washington,

October 5, 2010.

(Photo Credit: Jim Young, REUTERS)

-Ida Corporal 10/5/2010

Economic report

The start of a new week has not been good to the economy, per the Los Angeles Times, who reported that stocks have fallen as after a steady month of September. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 80 points today and while this isn't good for businesses, analysts expected the drop after a 10.4 percent gain in the Dow last month. The New York Times reports that they are expecting consumer credit reports for August and weekly jobless claims this week in addition to unemployment and nonfarm payrolls for September. The new data will shed a more precise light on the current economic state as we move closer to the end of the year. The USA Today mentions Obama’s meeting with his economic recovery advisory board, who have urged him not to raise taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, favoring an extension of former president Bush’s tax cuts.

President Obama with economic recovery advisory board members William Donaldson, second from right, and Martin Feldstein, right. (Photo Credit: Susan Walsh, AP)

Posted by Joseph Apodaca 

America out of work

The Los Angeles Times details the stories of several LA locals who are currently unemployed and have fallen on hard times due to the state of California's economy. Job titles including a court services assistant, an investment banker, and an administrative assistant at a public charter school have all had to downsize their lifestyles and put their dreams on the backburner, even going so far as to obtaining food from a local food pantry. The New York Times takes a different spin on the unemployment issue, reporting that company morale has gone down and therefore hurting the overall production in the workplace. Some employees feel a "survivor's guilt" for holding onto their job while otherss continue to lose them, bringing the office enviornment from productive to soulmn. In another change of pace, the USA Today reports that college students are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to marketing themselves and a product they wish to be sold. Companies such as American Eagle Outfitters are reaching out to students to market their products on college campuses, targeting would-be shoppers who don't have the time to make it to the local mall and setting them up for a successful future in the business world at the same time.

Frustration in and out of the work place can be felt across the nation due to the recent economy. (Photo Credit: David G. Klein, NY Times)

Posted by Joseph Apodaca

Budget plan announced in Sacramento

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Friday that a budget for the state of California has finally been settled upon and an end to the longest budget stalemate is impending. After operating without a settled spending plan since July 1, Schwarzenegger made the announcement following of hours of deliberation at the governor’s office on how to close the $19.1-billion dollar deficit. According to the Los Angeles Times, lawmakers have promised to release the details of the new budget as early as next Wednesday and a possible full vote of the Legislature on Thursday. The new budget is said to please Democrats by not raising taxes and to keep the state’s welfare system operating favored by Republicans, per the New York Times. USA Today also reports that Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth is confidant Republican voters will support to pass the budget on a two-thirds vote, stating "it's a compromise budget on all sides”.

Schwarzenegger stands confidently, knowing he has finally settled on a budget best fit for the state of California. (Photo Credit: Genaro Molina, LA Times)

Posted by Joseph Apodaca

$ 4.1 billion sale sparks "Flash Crash"

A highly awaited report explaining that a single firm's effort to sell $4.1 billion of contracts through computer driven traders was the cause of the mysterious stock market "Flash Crash" that occurred last May.  The Los Angeles Times gives a very in depth analysis of why the algorithm went wrong, causing a massive drop of 600 points in the Dow Jones in just 15 minutes, shocking Wall Street.  The "Flash Crash" played a crucial role in the stability of the stock market considering the Greek debt crisis at the time according to The New York Times.   USA Today gave a very detailed description of the report that investigates the events of May 6, 2010 and even presented a link to the report itself for viewers.


The New York Times depicts the May "Flash Crash" that caused the Dow Jones to drop 600 points in just 15 minutes. (Credits to: Graham Bowley)

 Done by: Emily Andrews

AIG plan to repay

The American International Group Inc. has announced that they have agreed on a plan to repay the 100 billion dollars in taxpayer money they still owe from their bailout in 2008.  This plan which proposes that the government's ownership of AIG stocks increase to 92% hopes to end the biggest bailout of the financial crisis. The strategic and positive plan to repay the government requires that the Treasury Department convert stocks worth 49.1 billion dollars into a common AIG stock that will be sold according to the the Los Angeles Times.  The New York Times took a more skeptical take on the situation by investigating the issue that "the plan offers no clear sense of whether  taxpayers will end up with a gain or loss."  A more concise view was taken by USA Today who delivered  general information regarding the matter, included in the other two articles; however, remained neutral.  

CEO of AIG; Robert Benmosche, pictured in the New York Times says that this plan will help AIG stay on track (Credits to: Mary Williams Walsh)


Done by: Emily Andrews

Obama's Nationwide Forum

Attemping to put the growing concern over the economy at ease, President Obama has been traveling Nationwide answering the pressing questions of Americans of all age groups. According to the Los Angeles Times, the economic crisis was perceived through a parent's point of view in an Iowa neighborhood; where parents expressed their frustration that their college graduate children are unable to find employment. A student's perception was investigated in Madison, Wisconson when the president visited a college campus to receive input according to the New York Times.  At a community event in Richmond, Virginia; President Obama assured concerned business owners that the Republican Party cannot decrease the debt and maintain balance while keeping the current tax policies according to USA Today. All three publications followed Obama across the country at these forums; however, they each focused on a different demographic's concern. 

President Obama depicted in USA Today reassures listeners in Richmond, Virginia that the Republican's proposed ideas to aid the economy do not logically add up.  (Credits to David Jackson)

 Done by: Emily Andrews