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Patrice Hill

phill@washingtontimes.com

Patrice Hill was a staff writer for The Washington Times.

Articles by Patrice Hill

** FILE ** Katie Stroh, left, and Gretchen Burkhardt look at catalogs while waiting outside a Kmart store on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Anaheim, Calif. Instead of waiting for Black Friday, which is typically the year's biggest shopping day, more than a dozen major retailers opened on Thanksgiving day this year. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Economic growth in 2nd half of 2013 fastest in a decade

The economy in the second half of 2013 grew by the fastest rate in a decade, despite the depressing effect of a prolonged government shutdown and deep federal budget cuts, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

January 30, 2014
Specialist Paul Cosentino works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. The U.S. stock market stumbled briefly after the Federal Reserve decided to further reduce its economic stimulus. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Markets reel as Federal Reserve cuts back stimulus

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday shook global markets, cutting back once again on its economic stimulus program and signaling that a recent softening of job gains and turmoil in emerging markets will not deter it from ending its extraordinary easing measures this year.

January 29, 2014
Oil Boom: An oil train derailment in Casselton, N.D., erupted into a fireball last month, just one of several recent scares and disasters in populated areas along North American rails. Transportation and political leaders are increasingly looking at pipelines as a safer alternative. (Associated Press)

Spike in deadly rail accidents fuel push to build Keystone XL pipeline

A string of deadly accidents and safety scares in recent months involving rail cars carrying crude oil is vividly demonstrating the dangers of relying on trains to transport the growing volumes of fuel being produced in North America, while giving ammunition to those who say the stalled Keystone XL and other pipelines are preferred ways to safely funnel fuel to market.

January 26, 2014
Trader Peter Tuchman works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Jan. 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Global market rout hits Wall Street

A meltdown in emerging markets took a toll on the U.S. stock market Friday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting by over 300 points.

January 24, 2014
** FILE ** Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 16, 2013, before the House Budget Committee hearing on President Obama's fiscal 2014 federal budget. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Congress inaction could cost U.S. clout at IMF

Though many legislators may not realize it, Congress failed to include in the massive spending deal approved last week funds to implement reforms sought for years by both Democratic and Republican presidents that would give China, India, Brazil and other large emerging nations a greater say in activities of the International Monetary Fund.

January 20, 2014
** FILE ** In this Aug. 26, 2011, photo, a sign notifies customers that EBT (or Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards can be used at a store in Sioux Falls, S.D. (AP Photo/The Argus Leader, Jay Pickthorn)

Government benefits cushion middle class, poor from income blows

Various measures of the income gap between the rich and everyone else show that inequality soared to record highs after the Great Recession. But what those measures do not reveal how a battery of government benefits ranging from unemployment aid and middle-class tax cuts to Medicaid and food stamps substantially cushioned the economic blow on the middle class and poor.

January 13, 2014

Top 1 percent reaps 90 percent of income gains since Obama took office

President Obama, who vowed to conquer Wall Street and revive opportunity for everyday Americans on Main Street, has this to show: Wall Street is home once again to the biggest concentration of billionaires on earth, while wages for the middle class have barely kept up with inflation.

January 13, 2014
** FILE ** In this Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, file photo, retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Thomas Gipson of Atlanta, right, has his resume looked over by Ralph Brown, a management and program analyst with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a job fair for veterans at the VFW Post 2681, Marietta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

U.S. economy adds 74K jobs, rate falls to 6.7 percent

The nation's unemployment rate plunged from 7 percent to 6.7 percent last month as Americans continued to drop out of the labor force while some found jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday morning.

January 10, 2014
A commuter departs from Union Station with wind chills nearing minus 30 Fahrenheit on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014, in downtown Chicago. Dangerously cold polar air snapped decades-old records as it spread Tuesday from the Midwest to southern and eastern parts of the U.S. and eastern Canada, making it hazardous to venture outside and keeping many schools and businesses closed. (AP Photo/Andrew A. Nelles)

Frigid weather strains fuel supplies at U.S. utilities

Utilities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast came uncomfortably close Tuesday to running out of fuel as the worst Arctic cold blast in two decades drove demand for electricity and home heating to record highs.

January 7, 2014
Yellen

Yellen is handed reins to Fed in bumpy ride to end stimulus

With the Senate's approval Monday of Janet Yellen to become the first female Federal Reserve chair at the end of the month, she takes on the difficult mission of smoothly ending the unprecedented $4 trillion of stimulus programs launched by her predecessor, Ben S. Bernanke.

January 6, 2014
FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2013, file photo, Federal Reserve Board Chair nominee Janet Yellen testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on her nomination. Democrats begin a drive this week to muscle a half dozen of President Barrack Obama's Republican-opposed nominees through the Senate after clamping shackles on traditional minority party rights in last month's power play against the GOP. Republicans, however, still have some tools for grinding the Senate's work to an excruciatingly slow crawl. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Senate confirms Yellen as next Fed chairman

The Senate Monday voted 56 to 27 to confirm Federal Reserve Board vice chairman Janet Yellen as the next chairman, succeeding Ben S. Bernanke when he departs Jan. 30.

January 6, 2014
A trader on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange gets into the New Year's spirit during an abbreviated trading session, capping a stellar year for U.S. stock markets. (associated press)

Stock market caps best year of century

The stock market put in a stellar performance in 2013, with major indexes soaring to all-time highs and posting gains of nearly 30 percent — the best since the 1990s. Investors are betting that a detente in Washington's fiscal wars will allow the U.S. economy to pick up some steam in 2014.

December 31, 2013
Associated Press file photo

Consumers warming up amid Christmas cheer

U.S. consumers are cheering up with Christmas approaching and appear set to put in a solid performance during the critical holiday shopping season.

December 23, 2013
**FILE** New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (left) rides in a golf cart driven by President Obama while playing golf at Vineyard Golf Club, in Edgartown, Mass., on the island of Martha's Vineyard on Aug. 27, 2010. (Associated Press)

Congress puts Obama on bumpy road for fast-track trade deals

President Obama has stepped up efforts to negotiate far-reaching trade deals with Asia and Europe in his second term, but he faces an uphill battle next year in Congress to gain the same authority his predecessors had to finalize such agreements.

December 22, 2013
FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2013 file photo, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Most economists think the Fed, after meeting this week, will maintain the pace of its monthly bond purchases to keep long-term loan rates low to spur spending and growth. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Fed eases up on stimulus bond-buying program

The Federal Reserve gave the first hint that it will ease off the economic accelerator, announcing plans to "modestly reduce the pace" of its asset purchases in 2014.

December 18, 2013
No-fracking zone: Wastewater from hydraulic fracturing is not welcome at the treatment plant for Niagara Falls, N.Y., which endured the Love Canal crisis of the 1970s. Clashes for water are likely to increase as the world's population and fuel demand grow. (Associated Press)

H2OIL: New fuel technology gulps water, threatens supply

For decades, Americans worried about running out of energy to keep their cars revving and their homes heated, but with technologies making oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels more plentiful, the danger now is that the world might run out of the water needed to produce power.

December 15, 2013