recession

The economy added 312,000 jobs in December, a strong increase from the 176,000 jobs added in November (revised up from 155,000), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ December Employment Situation Summary.

More and more investors are telling me that their portfolios have now fully recovered from the 2008 stock market crash. I respond in my typical tactless way by telling them their performance has been awful. That’s because stocks are now 64 percent above their pre-crash high.

Workers 50 and older face a hurdle that younger peers don’t: how to overcome negative stereotypes that paint them as much more expensive, out of touch with technology and less productive.

Older job seekers who were out of work at some point in the last five years found that tapping their network of contacts, reaching out to employers directly and starting their job search immediately rather than taking a break tended to be more successful in landing a job, according to a new report entitled “The Long Road Back: Struggling to Find Work After Unemployment,” by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

Many of our adult children face a daunting job outlook. The post-recession recovery has been particularly difficult for young adults who have experienced double-digit unemployment rates for more than 70 consecutive months, according to The Young Invincibles, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

Part of the promise of the American Dream is that each generation will do better than the last. Has that happened with our adult children, the millennials? Well, “yes and no,” reports the U.S. Census Bureau. Our children are better educated as a generation, yet more are living in poverty and they have lower rates of employment.

Jean Chatzky has a few choice words for how most folks describe their relationship with money: Confusing. Frightening. Chaotic. Stressful. Precarious.

Five years after the Great Recession, many Americans say they're still struggling to get by financially. Nineteen percent of adults ages 55 to 64 say they have no retirement savings or pensions to fall back on, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve.

Many Americans are still reeling from the last recession, although the oldest among us weathered the economic decline better than other age groups.

First the good news: Millions of jobs that were lost during the Great Recession seem to be finally coming back.