Worries about the federal government’s “fiscal cliff” are taking a toll on the economy well ahead of the year-end deadline, which analysts say is looking like it may be more damaging in the run-up than in the reality.
The Great Recession sent millions of Americans scurrying back to school to improve their chances of securing jobs. But the difficulty that recent college graduates have had finding work — after taking on unprecedented loads of debt — has sparked a lively debate about whether a college degree opens doors the way it once did in the job market.
The nation's unemployment rate edged up from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent last month as businesses from factories to office parks pulled back on hiring, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.
The nation's unemployment rate continued its rapid decline last month, falling to 8.1 percent as another 115,000 jobs were added throughout the economy, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.
The U.S. economy picked up speed last quarter, growing at a 2.8 percent pace compared to a 1.8 percent rate in the summer quarter of 2011, the Commerce Department reported Friday morning.
Job growth picked up to 103,000 last month, defying fears of a gathering slowdown in the economy, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.
Job growth ground to a halt last month in the strongest evidence to date that businesses were hit as hard as consumers by a sharp loss of confidence during the month spawned by Washington's debt crisis and severe turmoil in the world's financial markets.
Global markets recently fixated on the budget fight in Washington, but have remained mostly calm, in part because many investors think the Treasury Department will be able to avoid default for at least a week or two beyond the Aug. 2 "drop dead" deadline touted by the White House.
A second straight month of paltry job growth in June sent the unemployment rate rising to 9.2 percent, showing that the economy remained in a deep pause, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.
