UNEMPLOYMENT

Federal law enforcement arrested a California man today and charged him with making death threats to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-WA, according to federal authorities.

The state of Illinois has passed measures to raise the personal income tax rate by 67 percent and business income tax rate by 46 percent in order to get a handle on the state’s huge budget deficit.

The American economy closed out 2010 on a relatively strong note, suggesting an improving economy for this year, according to the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” report, a nationwide survey of economic conditions.

Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fired his interior minister on Wednesday to try to staunch the worst unrest in decades, but fresh clashes with police broke out and witnesses said one man was killed

Most Americans made work-related New Year's resolutions this year, be they to try to change jobs or get a raise or promotion at their current workplace, according to a survey released Friday.

Even as the rest of the world's efforts to push consumer spending and economic growth are floundering, Brazil reported a more-than-expected rise in retail sales during November.

Deadly rioting in the North African nations of Tunisia and Algeria underscore a clash between peoples’ anger over harsh economic realities and totalitarian governments’ clampdown on any dissent.

The devastating floods that have inundated Queensland may significantly reduce Australia’s overall economic growth this year, according to an array of economists and analysts.

The extra fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts approved in December could produce a 4 percent growth rate for the U.S. economy in the first half of 2011, but there are lingering risks that could lead to a cold shower in 2012, according to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

Despite a still-fragile U.S. economy and persistently high unemployment, The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the nation's largest donor-advised fund program, said its donors supported charities in record numbers in 2010.

Topics of this interview include Scott Carter highlighting the global dynamic of today's interest in gold, and how macro-economic trends continue to drive the decade long bull market of the precious metals. We also evaluate the possibility of seeing QE3 in 2011.

California’s governor Jerry Brown has unveiled a budget plan for the state which will cut welfare spending in half, reduce the state university’s systems coffers by 20 percent and slash healthcare coverage for the poor.

BP Plc, which is tormented by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has witnessed a positive development last week when Presidential Commission did not find BP solely responsible for the oil spill.

Many of the U.S. economic indicators, including the unemployment data on Friday, over the past few weeks have given rise to the false belief that the economy is finally improving.

When a quest for spirituality or devotion is merged with a sense of luxury, pilgrimage is given a whole new dimension. Luxury has imparted a new concept to a holy journey and this trend is fast catching up across the globe.

UK recruitment consultancy Michael Page International Plc reported a 32 percent rise in fourth-quarter gross profit, as most of the growth came from permanent recruitment and said it was optimistic about its 2011 prospects.

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy really recovers long term interest rates will increase, further depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden for the US.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.55 points, or 0.19 percent, to finish at 11.674.76. At one point the Dow was down as much as 100 points. The S&P 500 dropped 2.35 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1271.50; while the Nasdaq shed 6.72 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2703.17.

More than 2-million people in the United Kingdom have used their credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the last twelve months, a 50 percent increase from the prior year, according to Shelter, the British housing and homelessness charity.

The Democratic White House and the Republicans who control the House of Representatives each found the December jobs figures released today mildly encouraging. While the administration, however, took credit for the steady albeit slow improvement, the new Republican chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee said the plodding economy points up the need to change failed administration policies.

In a speech before a congressional committee this morning, Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that it could take years before unemployment falls to normalized levels, thus justifying the continuing need for the central bank’s $600-billion bond-buying scheme