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William Daley: 5 Facts About Obama's New Chief of Staff
By Mary Phillips-Sandy - AOL NewsThe rumors were true: Administration sources say William Daley will serve as President Barack Obama's next chief of staff. Interim chief of staff Pete Rouse has filled the position since October, when Rahm Emanuel left the White House to run for mayor of Chicago. The chief of staff is arguably one of the most powerful positions in Washington, since the role involves direct participation in presidential decision-making and negotiations. Other high-level responsibilities include coordination of Executive Office staff, advising the president and acting as a gatekeeper to the Oval Office. So who ...
Corporate Profits Soar to Record Levels, but Little Evidence of Trickle Down Yet
By David Knowles - AOL News(Nov. 23) -- When it comes to the nation's economy, is the glass half full or half empty? On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce revised its figures for how fast the nation's economy grew in the third quarter. GDP measured 2.5 percent, up 0.3 percentage points from the original estimates of 2.2 percent. A range of factors contributed to the revision, including strong consumer spending and healthy export sales. GDP has remained in positive territory in each of the first three quarters of 2010, marking a year in which the nation began to wrest free of the grip of the worst recession in ...
Retail Sales Rise 1.2 Percent in October
By not in system - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Nov. 15) -- Retail sales, helped by strong demand for autos, increased in October by the largest amount in seven months. The Commerce Department reported Monday that retail sales rose 1.2 percent last month. That was nearly double the gain that had been expected and the largest increase since March. Much of the strength came from a big rise in auto sales. Excluding autos, retail sales rose a more modest 0.4 percent. October represented the fourth straight increase in retail sales after sales had fallen in May and June. Those declines had raised worries about the economic ...
New-Home Sales Dropped to All-Time Low in July
By not in system - AOL News(Aug. 25) -- It's a summer for the record books in the beleaguered U.S. housing sector -- and not in a good way. New home sales unexpectedly plunged 12.4% in July to a 276,000-unit annual rate -- the lowest level since the U.S. Commerce Department started keeping records for the statistic in 1963. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast new home sales would rise to a 340,000-unit annual pace in July from a revised 315,000-unit rate in June. Instead, they fell, and the June revision lowered last month's sales gain from the previously-released 23.6 rise. Revised sales rates for May and ...
Strong Census Response Saves $1.6 Billion, Government Says
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailyThanks to an overwhelming response from the public and a lack of any major operational problems during this year's census, the federal government says it saved $1.6 billion on the once-a-decade population count. The Commerce Department, which runs the Census Bureau, credited a mail response rate of 72 percent, as well as thorough field work by more than 600,000 temporary workers who knocked on nearly 50 million doors, for the count's success, The Associated Press reported. "With proficient management, the cooperation of the American public and a little bit of luck, the census stayed on ...
Census Returning $1.6 Billion to Treasury
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Aug. 10) -- Thanks to a better-than-expected response rate, lots of advertising and a little luck, the Commerce Department announced today that it is returning to the Treasury $1.6 billion in savings from the 2010 Census. Planning for the 2010 Census began about 12 years ago, and $14.7 billion was budgeted for the entire life cycle of the 2010 Census. The refund represents 22 percent of the Census Bureau's $7.4 billion budget for 2010. Even with those savings, it will still be the most expensive census ever because of a larger, more diverse and harder-to-count population. The ...
Job Figures Just Part of a Grim Economic Picture
By Joseph Schuman - AOL News(Aug. 7) -- The prospects for unemployed Americans are going from bad to worse. The United States once again shed jobs in July, the Labor Department said today, and a host of economic data is dampening hopes for a turnaround in hiring anytime soon. Nonfarm payrolls shrank by 131,000 last month in an economy that lost more than 8.5 million jobs in the recent recession but started to generate job growth earlier this year. While most of the losses reflected the dismissal of temporary U.S. census workers, private-sector payroll growth was an anemic 71,000 jobs. And the government revised its ...
Fed Official: Spill May Be Hurting Economic Recovery
By Joseph Schuman - AOL News(June 30) -- American consumers have become increasingly wary about opening their wallets, while American businesses seem increasingly skittish when it comes to hiring -- both in ways that threaten the economic recovery. And one of the reasons may be the demoralizing effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That's the view of Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, whose financial responsibilities span the states affected by the devastating spill. Speaking today in Baton Rouge, La., Lockhart noted that economic damage from the well blowout is already ...
Economic Growth: GDP Estimate for First Quarter Was Too High
By Tom Diemer - Politics DailyTaking a closer look, the government said Friday that economic growth during the first quarter of 2010 wasn't as strong as analysts first thought, as spending by consumers was lower than earlier estimates. The Commerce Department pushed down the previously reported 3 percent growth in the gross domestic product to 2.7 percent, a disappointment when compared to the 5.6 percent increase in GDP during the last quarter of 2009. A slowdown in business investment in inventory and fewer exports were partly responsible for the adjustment. Even so, the U.S. economy has expanded for three consecutive ...
New Home Sales Dropped 33 Percent in May as Tax Credit Expired
By Tom Diemer - Politics DailySales of new homes went over the cliff in May, tumbling nearly 33 percent to the slowest sales pace on record as a large federal tax credit for purchases ran out and potential buyers held back. The Commerce Department said new homes sold at a seasonally adjusted rate of 300,000 in May, a slide of 32.7 percent from the April mark and 18 percent below May of last year. An $8,000 credit for first-time buyers or for a credit of up $6,500 credit for some current owners buying a new home expired on April 30. The lucky ones who signed a contract for a new home by that date have until June 30 to ...
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