According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment insurance benefits dropped last week to a seasonally adjusted 521,000.

The article said:

“Despite the improvement, initial claims remain well above the 325,000 that economists say is consistent with a healthy economy.”

Also, there are still 8.9 million Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits, including those who …

Tags: Unemployment United States Department of Labor

The Treasury Department has admitted that the Making Home Affordable (HAMP) foreclosure prevention program has not made the type of impact that was expected.  In response the Treasury Department is instituting new rules that will take effect on June 1, 2010.

The new HAMP requirements will force servicers to have in hand all the needed documents from borrowers before they extend a three-month trial …

Tags: foreclosure HAMP Lenders Mortgage United States Department of the Treasury

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The Labor Department claims that the number jobless workers applying for unemployment for the first time is steadily decreasing; but could that mean a spike in bankruptcy filings?

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was above analysts’ expectations of 460,000 new claims… The number of people …

Tags: Bankruptcy Labor Department Recession Unemployment United States

The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week when many economists were hoping for a decline and a sign that the job losses would be improving soon.

But the rise in weekly claims of 7,000 last week, which had followed an increase of 19,000 the previous week, shows that the improvement has been halting. Analysts believe that claims need to fall …

Tags: Economy Job Loss Unemployment United States

According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau figures states that Texas leads the nation in the percentage of residents without health insurance.  More than 1 out of every 4 Texans are without health insurance, a total of 6 million residents and Texas leads the nation in the numbers of children who go without health insurance.

The article said:

“…Texas had the nation’s highest percentage of children under 18 without coverage – 17.9 …

Comment by Jacob Decker: … expenses is one of the most substantial reasons many …

Tags: Bankruptcy Health Uninsured in the United States

Permalink: /medical_bills/six-million-uninsured-texans-stand-on-the-brink-of-medical-bankruptcy/

… find new employment and employment that pays at least a living wage. And unfortunately, the number of unemployed older workers has increased dramatically.

The number of unemployed workers age 55 to 64 has nearly tripled since the recession began, to about 1.6 million of the nation’s 15.4 million unemployed as of November, according to the Labor Department. These unemployed job seekers say it is even harder for them to find work because of what they see as age bias.

Age bias in the job …

Tags: Bankruptcy Labor Department Seniors Unemployment

The latest job loss report released by the Labor Department is not encouraging.  There were 85,000 job losses in December and that’s after employers added 4,000 jobs in November.  It just seems that America’s workers can’t seem to get a break.  Even those who have been looking for work for an extended period of time remain unemployed.  There are 5.4 million Americans receiving unemployment benefits and that’s not counting the …

Tags: Bankruptcy Department of Labor Job Loss Unemployment

… to cut costs, the company is implementing job losses and outsourcing its information technology department.  New jobs will go India.  Is this a trend?  As job losses mount and the recession clamps down on consumer spending, many large companies (and some small companies) are turning to foreign workers to find cheap labor, leaving many American workers unemployed for a longer stretch of time.

Since January, Neiman Marcus has had three layoffs totaling 950 jobs, and employees have …

Tags: Job Loss Neiman Marcus Outsourcing United States

… the Congressional Oversight Panel which is responsible for making regular assessments of the $700 billion financial bailout of banks has reported that the foreclosure plan “Making Home Affordable” has failed to hit the mark.  The committee recommended that the Treasury Department either improve the program or adopt a new program that directly addresses foreclosures caused by the rise in job losses.

The article said:

“Serious concerns remain about the program’s …

Tags: foreclosure Mortgage modification United States Department of the Treasury

… construction subcontractor, Building Materials Holding Corp., will pay nearly $475,000 to a group of construction workers under a legal settlement approved by the bankruptcy judge overseeing the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings.

The article said:

“The lawsuit accused the company and its subsidiaries, including San Francisco-based SelectBuild Construction Inc., of violating state and federal law by not paying laborers higher rates for overtime work and by withholding payment for …

Tags: Building Materials Holding Corp Labor Dispute SelectBuild Construction Inc. Settlement

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… the Star-Telegram, Frontier Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy under the new ownership of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.  Republic gained control of the bankrupt airline with a $108.8 million bid in bankruptcy court, which included a plan for the cancellation of the airline’s old shares. But despite the bankruptcy buyout, Frontier still has a tough fight in its Denver hub which is a competitive market. Most of Frontier’s flights come through Denver because when the airline …

Tags: Chapter 11 Title 11 United States Code Frontier Airlines

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Most people have at least passing knowledge of wage garnishment–the process of deducting money from an employee’s monetary compensation (including salary) as a result of a court order.  Fortunately for those who find themselves in the unfortunate position of having their wages garnished, these payments are limited by federal law to 25 percent of the employee’s disposable income.  Unfortunately, those payments will continue until …

Tags: Bankruptcy Chapter 13 Title 11 United States Code Garnishment Internal Revenue Service tax