Finance Globe

Continuing job losses remain severe, according to a report release by the Labor Department on Thursday. While the number of initial jobless claims dipped slightly last week, this is mostly because it is being compared with the prior week in which Chrysler layoffs bumped that week's number much higher.The advance number for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 631,000 for the week ending May 16 - a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure...

In these difficult times, fraudsters are working under the guise of the federal government to trick struggling homeowners.President Obama announced the Making Home Affordable program earlier this year as part of the effort to help homeowners who are having financial difficulty in making their house payments. At makinghomeaffordable.gov, homeowners can receive free help on loan modifications or assistance in refinancing into a lower interest rate so their payments are more affordable for the long term.Millions of...

President Obama held a town meeting on Thursday in Rio Rancho, New Mexico to discuss his plans for immediate reform of the credit card industry."It’s time for strong and reliable protections for our consumers. It’s time for reform that is built on transparency, accountability, and mutual responsibility – values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy," President Obama said.The White House said in a statement, "Americans need a durable and successful...

Home sales in the first quarter of 2009 reflect that home buyers have been bargain hunting, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).First-time home buyers accounted for half of all home purchases, and distress sales - foreclosures and short sales - also accounted for nearly half of all homes sales during this period, pushing down the median sales price.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said some areas showed dramatic drops...

The Federal Trade Commission reported on Monday that it is investigating a California-based mortgage lender for violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) by pricing loans according to the applicant's race or nationality. According to the FTC’s complaint, Golden Empire Mortgage charged Hispanic home buyers higher prices for mortgage loans than non-Hispanic white home buyers - prices which could not be explained by the applicant's credit characteristics or underwriting risk. The FTC seeks to bar future...

American families continue to deal with the stress and pressures of job loss - and a total of 13.7 million unemployed workers.The Department of Labor report today that non-farm payroll employment continued to decline for April by 539,000 - bringing the unemployment rate up to 8.9%. 5.7 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession in December 2007.Somehow, it was still considered good news since analysts had been predicting a loss of 630,000...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday in prepared testimony that the economy is showing some signs of stabilizing and is likely to rebound later this year, and that the rate of inflation should stay low. But he also said that the road to recovery remains scattered with obstacles.Bernanke said that current labor market data suggests that we will continue to see "further sizable job losses and increased unemployment in the coming months."Consumer spending grew in...

President Obama outlined his $3.6 trillion budget for 2010 today and addressed that his administration has found 121 programs that can be reduced or eliminated to save American taxpayers nearly $17 billion next year alone."All across this country, Americans are responding to difficult economic times by tightening their belts and making tough decisions about where they need to spend and where they need to save," the president said. "The question the American people are asking is...

Today President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a plan to curb tax havens, and replace the tax advantages that encourage businesses to shift jobs overseas with incentives for creating those jobs here at home.The Treasury said that in 2004 - the most recent year for which data is available - U.S. multinational corporations paid about $16 billion of U.S. tax on approximately $700 billion of foreign active earnings – an effective U.S. tax rate...

The number of people who filed for unemployment insurance benefits for the first time dropped for the week ending April 25, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.Last week in the U.S., 631,000 initial jobless claims were filed, down 14,000 from a revised-up 645,000 from the week before. The four-week moving average of initial claims, down 10,750 from the previous week, was 637,250.The advance number for seasonally-adjusted insured unemployment during the week...