The XX Factor

Recession Briefing 7.21

Science has confirmed what we had suspected –  financial stress has a way of turning into body fat. ( Live Science )

The recession has jolted Las Vegas in a fundamental way. Upward mobility for the working class is evaporating. ( Wall Street Journal )

Components of the index of leading economic indicators are signaling the recession may be over now, not three to six months from now. ( Bloomberg )

Commercial real estate is moving into the spotlight as the next potential body slam for the economy. ( CNN/Money )

Recession-starved employee salaries have scarcely grown this year , and early predictions for 2010 aren’t looking much better. ( Wall Street Journal )

Economist Nouriel Roubini said Monday that the economic recovery is going to be “very ugly.” ( CNBC )

Ten business tips for beating the recession - without spending a penny. ( Real Business )

The economic recession may be a national phenomenon, measured by data like gross domestic product and unemployment rates, but the experience at the local level is very different. ( Christian Science Monitor )

The number of home funerals, where everything from caring for the dead to the visiting hours to the building of the coffin is done at home, has soared in the last five years.  The cost savings can be substantial, all the more important in an economic downturn. ( New York Times )

When General Motors, the biggest employer in Ontario, Ohio, laid off 400 workers in December, it was like a boulder falling into a very small pond. ( USA Today )