Latest Recessions and depressions News

Elderly, halfhearted Florida bank robber won't be jailed

Feb. 18, 2020 1:24 PM EST

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 74-year-old Florida man whose halfhearted attempt at bank robbery was caused by depression after his wife's death will not spend any time in jail, it was announced Friday. Sandy Hawkins reached an agreement with Palm Beach County prosecutors where he will spend a year living...

In this Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, photo, Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin removes a Torah scroll from the ark, a cabinet that houses scrolls of the Hebrew Bible, while preparing for Shabbat morning service at Temple Sinai in Oakland, Calif. In September 2017, on the first day of Rosh Hoshana, the Jewish new year, a security guard found an anti-Semitic message scrawled on an outdoor wall of Temple Sinai. “Since 2017, the congregation has been looking to try to feel safe,” she said. “It’s another layer that we always have to be conscious of.” (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Stresses multiply for many US clergy: 'We need help too'

Feb. 18, 2020 10:58 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Greg Laurie is among America’s most successful clergymen -- senior pastor at a California megachurch, prolific author, host of a global radio program. Yet after a youthful colleague’s suicide, his view of his vocation is unsparing. “Pastors are people, just like...

In this Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, photo, Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin removes a Torah scroll from the ark, a cabinet that houses scrolls of the Hebrew Bible, while preparing for Shabbat morning service at Temple Sinai in Oakland, Calif. In September 2017, on the first day of Rosh Hoshana, the Jewish new year, a security guard found an anti-Semitic message scrawled on an outdoor wall of Temple Sinai. “Since 2017, the congregation has been looking to try to feel safe,” she said. “It’s another layer that we always have to be conscious of.” (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Stresses multiply for many US clergy: 'We need help too'

Feb. 18, 2020 10:29 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Greg Laurie is among America’s most successful clergymen -- senior pastor at a California megachurch, prolific author, host of a global radio program. Yet after a youthful colleague’s suicide, his view of his vocation is unsparing. “Pastors are people, just like...

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2020, file photo, commuters ride in a quiet subway train during the morning rush hour in Beijing. As many Chinese finally go back to work after their longest Lunar New Year holiday ever, the economic fallout from the outbreak of a new coronavirus that began in Wuhan may be just beginning. Companies are warning their bottom lines will take a hit, and governments are ramping up stimulus measures for economies that just weeks ago were hoping to see recoveries after months of uncertainty due to trade tensions and slowing global growth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

China virus outbreak chilling recovery for Asian economies

Feb. 18, 2020 6:47 AM EST

BANGKOK (AP) — The virus outbreak in China has put South Korea's economy into an "emergency situation," its president says. Japan is on the brink of recession and big manufacturers are forecasting a whole world of woe. As many Chinese finally go back to work after their longest Lunar New Year holiday...

FILE - In this March 1, 2012 file photo, former President Bill Clinton shakes hands with Owen Bieber, left, with United Auto Workers union (UAW), at the 2012 UAW National Community†Action Program Conference, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, in Washington. Bieber, who led the United Auto Workers union from the auto industry's dark days of the early 1980s to the prosperity of the mid-1990s, has died. He was 90.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Former UAW President Owen Bieber dies aged 90

Feb. 17, 2020 5:52 PM EST

Owen Bieber, who led the United Auto Workers union from the auto industry's dark days of the early 1980s to the prosperity of the mid-1990s, has died. He was 90. Neither as charismatic as his predecessor, Douglas Fraser, nor as confrontational as his successor, Stephen Yokich, the low-key Bieber had an easygoing...

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde addresses European Parliament lawmakers during a monetary dialogue meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Negative interest rates turn saving, borrowing upside down

Feb. 14, 2020 11:00 AM EST

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Imagine a mortgage that pays you the interest, not the other way around. Or a savings account where it's the bank, not the saver, who collects interest. Welcome to the upside-down world of ultra-low and negative interest rates that is taking hold in many parts of the world where...

File---Picture taken October 4, 2017 shows containers on a cargo ship in Hamburg, Germany. (Axel Heimken/dpa via AP)

German economy stagnates in sign of Europe's difficulties

Feb. 14, 2020 6:41 AM EST

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Growth ground to a halt at the end of the year in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, as manufacturing remained in a slump and exports fell, official figures showed Friday. The flat reading underlines the challenge facing the broader eurozone economy as it struggles against...

Bank of Mexico cuts key interest rate quarter-point to 7%

Feb. 13, 2020 5:48 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to 7% on Thursday, seeking to stimulate an economy that entered into recession last year. In a statement, the Bank of Mexico noted “characteristics of deceleration, low inflation, accommodative...

Members of political parties and social movements protest the visit of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, one with a sign that reads in Spanish

Argentina and IMF discuss debt in shadow of 2001 crisis

Feb. 12, 2020 5:30 PM EST

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina has been here before: recession, growing poverty, high inflation, billions of dollars in debt, a looming deadline for repayment and simmering anger toward the International Monetary Fund. This is a big week for one of Latin America's biggest economies, which is...

FILE - In this Sept. 18, 2019, file photo people stand in line to inquire about jobs available at the Bean Automotive Group during a job fair designed for people fifty years or older in Miami. On Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, the Labor Department reports on job openings and labor turnover for December. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

US open jobs fall sharply for 2nd straight month

Feb. 11, 2020 11:14 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses sharply cut the number of jobs they advertised in December for the second straight month, an unusual sign of weakness in an otherwise healthy job market. The number of available positions dropped 5.4% to 6.4 million, a historically solid number, the Labor Department said...

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