The XX Factor

Recession Briefing 8.10

People who have been out of work for months are lining up for jobs at places they once considered unthinkable : slaughterhouses, sewage plants, prisons. ( Associated Press )

Growing numbers of new college graduates - or, more often, their parents - are paying thousands of dollars to services that help them land internships. ( New York Times )

Economists don’t see much relief for unemployed teenagers in a recession that has trimmed hires and pulled many adults into the scramble for jobs typically held by teens. ( Wall Street Journal )

Five months ago, MSNBC.com began what is one of the most unusual experiments in online journalism to date: it ensconced itself in one city in Indiana and documented how that city grappled with the economic downturn . ( New York Times )

The recession has put a kink in the plans of a San Francisco nonprofit that recycles human hair scraps to clean up oil spills. ( Wall Street Journal )

Widespread - if somewhat unscientific - indicators of a recession include sales for movie tickets, neckties, and lipstick. Here are ten such indicators of bad times ahead. ( Huffington Post )

Investment banks are having to re-position themselves following an industry meltdown. Here’s a look at how Wall Street banks’ ads have evolved over time. ( The Big Money )

Crisis it may be, but there are ways to profit in business during a downturn, if not in real financial returns, then in building the company for tomorrow. ( Los Angeles Times )

After more than a year of recession, sex isn’t selling any better than anything else. From Internet pornography to strip-club lap dances to Playboy magazines, business is hurting. ( Chicago Tribune )

The first of several new series attempting to squeeze ratings lemonade from the country’s economy of lemons, Mark Burnett’s Shark Tank arrived yesterday on ABC with a timely premise : Five self-made billionaires offer their own personal stimulus packages for average Americans with promising business ideas. ( Hollywood Reporter )