New York Times reports, “Eighteen of the 20 cities tracked by Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed improvement in June, up from eight in May, four in April and only one in March…For all the improvement reflected in the new Case-Shiller report, housing prices are still down sharply […]

Oregon Supreme Court Denies Employee’s Wrongful Discharge Claim for Reporting Unlawful Trade Practices by P.K. Runkles-Pearson Stoel Rives LLP, Attorneys at Law The Oregon Supreme Court has denied a car salesman’s wrongful discharge claim. In Lamson v. Crater Lake Motors, Inc., the salesman, Kevin Lamson, claimed he was terminated for […]

According to the Wall Street Journal Market Watch, “The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday announced four more bank failures, including a Texas bank with total assets of about $13 billion, pushing this year’s tally up to 81.  Guaranty Bank of Austin, Texas became the 81st bank failure of 2009 […]

Forty-five Percent of Employers Use Social Networking Sites to Research Job Candidates, CareerBuilder Survey Finds Career Expert Provides DOs and DON’Ts for Job Seekers on Social Networking CHICAGO, August 19, 2009 – As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees. Forty-five percent […]

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting Yesterday I said that the hard evidence for the recession being over was a little soft, with only three of the four main coincident indicators turning up.  Today’s announcement of industrial production gives us a second indicator that has turned up, at least for […]

The latest report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows the latest changes in personal income of Metro areas. Personal Income: Change from 2007-2008   (Metro areas only)

By Biz-Watch, On July 31st, Defend Oregon placed a full-page ad in the Portland Business Journal in support of the two tax increases increases (Corporate minimum and higher income earners) passed by the Oregon Legislature.  The message was straight to the business community with the headlines that read “We can […]

MarketWatch Reports: “WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — An economic recovery may begin soon, and data suggest that the recession is bottoming out, the Conference Board said Thursday.For its fourth consecutive monthly gain, the index of leading economic indicators rose 0.6% in July, following an upwardly revised increase of 0.8% in June. However, […]

Oregon July Unemployment: 11.9% By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog Oregon’s July unemployment was 11.9%, virtually the same as the (revised) 12% figure for June. The good news is that the pace of job losses is slowing dramatically. 700 jobs were lost in July compared to 3,400 (revised) in June […]

The Congressional incentive plan Cash-for-Clunkers is running into serious problems across the country.  Hundreds of dealers in New York are giving up the program: Breitbart reports, “Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by […]