When People Make Their Own Banks
An ex-con lends money to people in need; a group of friends creates a savings club. Even without banks, people often figure out how to get the money they need, when they need it.
ECONOMY
Housing Market Watchers Edgy As Mortgage Rates Keep Climbing
The Federal Reserve's economic stimulus has helped keep mortgage rates at record lows in the years since the Great Recession. But rates are ticking upward, leaving some investors worried that the nascent housing recovery will suffer if the Fed unravels its policies too quickly.
Detroit's Emergency Manager Meets With Creditors
Kevyn Orr will ask unions, retirees and banks to take big losses on debt the city just can't afford to pay. But Orr is walking a fine line trying to convince those parties to accept a bankruptcy-style settlement, without actually going to bankruptcy court — at least, not yet.
Unpaid No More: Interns Win Major Court Battle
A federal ruling against a major movie studio's use of unpaid interns could have a wide impact on uncompensated labor, including internships for college credit. Workers' advocates say many interns are preventing workers who can't afford to work free from entering the labor force.
Immigration Bill May Keep Wage Exemption For Foreign Herders
Peruvian shepherds on guest worker visas tend thousands of sheep in Wyoming, but they only make about half of what agricultural workers elsewhere are paid. Some ranchers say the exemption from minimum wage requirements is necessary; workers' rights advocates say it's exploitation.
Golden Years Tainted As Retirement Savings Dwindle
Forty-seven-year-old Michael Powers says he expects to be working for a long time. He and fellow members of Generation X, ages 38 to 47, are on track to be the first generation to do worse in retirement than their parents. Assuming they retire at all.
Battered Jersey Shore Pins Recovery Hopes On Summer Season
Seven months after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore, Asbury Park is still waiting for insurance and federal aid money. In the meantime, it borrowed $10 million to repair the waterfront in time for the critical Memorial Day weekend.
U.S. Unemployment Rate Inched Up In May
The Labor Department on Friday reported a jobless rate of 7.6 percent as employers added 175,000 jobs and more people began to look for work last month. That's up from April's rate of 7.5 percent.
First U.S. Assembly Plant For China's Lenovo Opens In N.C.
The Chinese computer maker is trying to boost its brand and U.S. market share as other high-tech firms, including Motorola, plan to manufacture here. North Carolina officials say the plant in Whitsett is a sign of manufacturing's return from overseas.
Job Market Remains Challenging For 2013 Graduates
For the past five years, graduation day has been a time of apprehension as much as celebration. Prospects for those entering the workforce for the first time were bleak. The class of 2013 — whether from high school or college — has cause for more optimism than previous classes.