Economy

Cyprus bailout deepens divide within Europe.

Cyprus residents also don't trust their banks. 

Regulators taking on forced housing insurance policies.

Emerging BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are looking to play on World Bank territory.

Detroit's new emergency manager extends "olive branch." 

Roughly one in six children in the U.S. have a parent that either doesn’t have a job or is underemployed, according to a new study.

The study, from The Urban Institute and First Focus, also found that around a third of those children live in houses that don’t receive unemployment benefits, food stamps or welfare assistance.

In all, more than 12 million children have parents affected by employment issues, with about half of those children living with at least one unemployed parent.

Around 3.4 million children live with a parent forced into part-time work, while some 2.8 million are in the home with a parent who isn’t actively seeking employment.

According to the study, the hit to a family’s finances from a parent losing a job or being underemployed can hurt a child’s development — particularly if the family dips below the poverty line.

Travel and retail groups are urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would boost tourism and lift the recovering U.S. economy. 

The U.S. Travel Association and the National Retail Federation (NRF) applauded the reintroduction of a measure that would smooth the U.S. entry process for foreign tourists, leading to more jobs across the retail and tourism industries. 

"The data is clear, increased international travel to the U.S. will deliver the jolt America's economy needs right now," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. 

"We look forward to working with congressional stakeholders on both sides of the aisle to enact this critical legislation without delay."

The labor market is showing steady signs of improving with the monthly average of jobless claims falling to a new five-year low last week. 

First-time unemployment benefit applications increased by only 2,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 336,000, another sign that layoffs are slowing, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Comments

The Federal Reserve chairman said "too big to fail" banks are a "major issue" that must be addressed.

The Fed renewed its commitment to a policy of near-zero interest rates in an effort to spur on the economy.

People in the U.S. became more confident in the economy last week, Gallup found, inching back toward levels found before across-the-board spending cuts went into place this month.

Gallup said its economic confidence index grew to -14 last week – its highest reading since February, and up from -17 the week before.

The index's highest reading this year was -8 in early February, before the $85 billion in cuts known as sequestration started on March 1.

"The Dow Jones Industrial Average's 10 consecutive days of gains, the longest streak since 1996, likely contributed to the improvement last week in Americans' economic outlook," Gallup said. Read more...

Cyprus likely to turn down bailout because of bank tax.  Read more...

A Republican senator is already vowing to block President Obama's nominee to the Labor Department over his role in enforcing voters rights laws. 

Sen. David Vitter said Monday he would block the nomination of Thomas Perez to become Labor secretary until the Justice Department responds to his November 2011 letter that detailed "spotty enforcement" of voter laws in his home state of Louisiana. 

“Perez was greatly involved in the DOJ’s partisan full-court press to pressure Louisiana’s secretary of state to only enforce one side of the law — the side that specifically benefits the politics of the president and his administration at the expense of identity security of each and every Louisianian on the voter rolls," Vitter said. 

He specifically noted "his spotty work related to the New Black Panther case" and that his record should be met with "great suspicion."

Perez, who heads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, would replace former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. She left the job in January. 

White House press secretary Jay Carney defended Perez's record following President Obama's announcement, arguing that a recent report by Justice's inspector general concluded "that voting rights enforcements, decisions made by leadership, were not due to improper racial or political considerations" and the the New Black Panther case was properly handled. 

Half of the states saw their unemployment rates rise in January, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Monday.

Eight states saw their jobless rate go down in the first month of the year, while 17 recorded no change. Washington, D.C., also saw its rate go up.

The economy added 119,000 jobs in January, BLS said in a revised estimate this month. Some 236,000 jobs were added in February, with the jobless rate falling to 7.7 percent. Read more...