Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
  • President Obama is breaking up his $447 American Jobs Act into pieces to help push it through Congress. First up is a $35 billion package to go to states.

  • An oil derrick works to extract oil from 400 billion barrels North Dakota has in reserves.
    Stacey Vanek-Smith / Marketplace

    There's no economic crisis in North Dakota. Oil in the hundreds of billions of barrels fuels an economy that others states could envy.

  • The Senate has rejected President Obama's jobs bill, but a Plan B is already taking shape.

  • For many, today's jobs news is good — but not good enough. We ask National Economic Council director Gene Sperling what still needs to be done.

  • Despite heavy pushing this week, it looks unlikely that President Obama's jobs package will be passed as-is. And if it isn't passed, even those who do have jobs will feel it.

  • Mass layoffs are still in force, more than two years after the recession started. The newly unemployed face stiff competition amongst their peers, but also find strength in their numbers.

  • The White House wants to extend unemployment insurance benefits, but critics say that will give the jobless an incentive to stay jobless.

  • Many experts attributed a good day on Wall Street yesterday to an upcoming speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. But others say big market swings are harder to explain.

  • Private employers are creating jobs every month. But it's not nearly enough to whittle away at the unemployment rate, which remains above 9 percent

  • A new study shows the social costs of impoverished children are growing, with economic consequences like high unemployment extending far into the future

The Breakdown: Economy