What do Tropicana Casino and Resort, Avis and the White House now have in common? They're all freezing the pay of some of their workers. It's part of a growing trend by employers facing the fallout — economic and political — from a brutal recession. ...more

January 22, 2009

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Insulated from the harshest effects of the housing bust - and buoyed by an abundance of energy and agriculture - five contiguous rural states have the lowest unemployment rates in the land. ...more

January 11, 2009

Florida's unemployment rate jumped to a 15-year high last month, rising to 7.3 percent, and the state's job losses are increasingly being felt outside of the hard-hit construction industry. ...more

December 20, 2008

Florida's unemployment rate jumped again last month, rising to 7.3 percent, and the state's job losses are increasingly being felt outside of the hard-hit construction industry. The number of unemployed Floridians rose to an estimated 680,000 in November, or 7.3 percent of the state's labor force of 9.3 million. The unemployment rate had been 7 percent in October, and it was just 4.4 percent in November 2007 on a seasonally adjusted basis. Florida's jobless rate is higher than the overall U.S. rate of 6.7 percent. ...more

December 19, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - An alarming half-million American jobs vanished virtually in a flash last month, the worst mass layoffs in over a third of a century, as economic carnage spread ever faster and the U.S. hurtled toward what could be the hardest hard times since the Great Depression. ...more

December 7, 2008

An alarming half-million American jobs vanished last month, the worst mass layoffs in more than a third of a century, as economic carnage spread ever faster and the nation hurtled toward what could be the hardest hard times since the Great Depression. ...more

December 6, 2008

Holiday deals may be hot, but retailers can still expect the worst Black Friday since the early 1970s, according to a University of Central Florida economist. ...more

November 27, 2008

TAMPA The holiday deals may be hot, but that won't be enough to convince consumers to spend like retailers hope they will, according to a University of Central Florida economist. This week's Black Friday will be a disappointing one for the retail industry, as overall consumer spending continues its downward slide this quarter. This rate of decline has not been seen in Florida since 1974, said economist Sean Snaith. ...more

November 26, 2008

Florida's unemployment rate jumped to 7 percent in October, the highest rate since December 1993, according to state figures released today. The state's jobless rate rose from 6.6 percent in September, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. The rate was 4.3 percent in October 2007. Florida continued to shed jobs, losing 156,200 nonagricultural jobs between October 2007 and last month, for a job-growth rate of minus 1.9 percent. ...more

November 21, 2008

Jarred by new jobless alarms, Congress quickly approved legislation Thursday to keep unemployment checks flowing through the holidays in December and into the new year for a million or more laid-off Americans whose benefits are running out. ...more

November 21, 2008