A fracking-fueled job boom has erupted in parts of the U.S. and wages of gas workers have increased. But in New York fracking is banned. That hasn’t stopped an upstate New York school from offering training courses for work in gas fields, because many expect Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift the ban.
U.S. households hold half of all municipal bonds issued by cities and states in the U.S. But over the course of the past year, those investors have been backing away. Why?
A recent report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis about the health of the economy in the fourth quarter of 2011 shows a 20 percent spike in investment — a sign that businesses are back to spending, not hoarding, their money.
The dip in unemployment and job claims indicate optimism — but wages fell sharply for the majority of American workers last year in a way that they haven't since 2007.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 11.8 percent of workers counted themselves amongst the ranks of organized labor in 2011, almost half the number recorded in 1983 — the first year that data was available.
