YOUR CREDIT SCORE IS HAUNTING YOU: Want to know what your less than sterling credit score is costing you? You’d better sit down for this one. From higher interest on credit cards and loans to shrunken job prospects, you can be out tens of thousands of dollars because of that one little number. Read more
THE GOOD NEWS BEHIND THE END OF EXTENDED JOBLESS BENEFITS: One good way for the unemployment rate to drop would be for Congress to kill the extension of emergency jobless benefits. With 1.32 million set to lose benefits, that’s likely to slice the labor force participation rate even further, probably causing an immediate drop in the unemployment rate to 6.8%, according to one analysis–though it won’t actually change the number of people who are unemployed. Read more
WHAT RECOVERY?: Six years after the start of the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the U.S. economy is finally getting back on its feet. House and stock prices keep rising, the unemployment rate keeps falling, and the government’s budget deficit is shrinking. Timing of this story may change. Read more
STOCK RALLY PROPELS DOW INDUSTRIALS TO 50TH RECORD-HIGH CLOSE OF THE YEAR: Read more
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