Patrice Hill
Articles by Patrice Hill
Welch’s criticism of jobless-rate drop brings a backlash
It may have only been a bit of bad-mouthing typical of fans rooting for their home team, but former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch stirred up a hornet's nest of criticism from fellow businessmen and professional economists when he accused the White House of engineering a big drop in the nation's unemployment rate just a month before the presidential election. Published October 15, 2012
Report: Shoppers hit stores with gusto in Sept.
U.S. consumers went on another shopping spree last month, driving up retail sales by a robust 1.1 percent in the second straight month of sizable gains, the Commerce Department reported Monday morning. Published October 15, 2012
‘Fiscal cliff’ fight already drags on U.S. economy
Worries about the federal government’s “fiscal cliff” are taking a toll on the economy well ahead of the year-end deadline, which analysts say is looking like it may be more damaging in the run-up than in the reality. Published October 9, 2012
Consumers jump-start sputtering economy
The U.S. economy is getting a boost from the awakening of long-slumbering sectors such as housing and local government, even as previously strong sectors such as exports and business investments decline. Published October 7, 2012
Unemployment falls to 7.8 percent on faster job growth
A modest pick-up in job growth last month helped lower the nation's unemployment rate to a 4-year-low of 7.8 percent — exactly where it was when President Obama took office nearly four years ago, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. Published October 5, 2012
Mortgage refinancings surge amid record-low rates
The Federal Reserve touched off the biggest mortgage refinancing wave since 2009 last month by driving the interest rates on 30-year mortgages to record lows near 3.5 percent. Published October 3, 2012
Economic signs point both ways for presidential election result
At first glance, it looked as if the elections might be a slam-dunk for Republicans this year, given the way presidents in recent history have fared in the face of poorly performing economies. But as the GOP is finding out, today's economy is a double-edged sword that is cutting both for and against President Obama. Published September 30, 2012
Consumer confidence, home prices on the rise
Consumer confidence perked up this month while home prices posted their third straight month of gains in the latest signs that the economy continues to slowly but steadily improve. Published September 25, 2012
Workforce dropouts: Frustrated, retired or lack skills
Jobless rates are down both because some people are finding work and because some people have stopped trying, economists say. The big question: Who are all these people who have given up, driving the share of able-bodied Americans in the labor force to a 30-year low of 63.5 percent last month? Published September 20, 2012
GOP sees Fed move as a ploy in the election
The Federal Reserve took aggressive action Thursday to try to reinvigorate the economy and generate more jobs, announcing a major program of purchasing $40 billion a month in mortgage bonds that it hopes will drive down interest rates to record lows and spur faster growth. Published September 13, 2012
Moody’s warns of downgrade from AAA without budget deal
Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday warned that it will downgrade the U.S. government's AAA credit rating if Congress and the newly installed president next year fail to produce a major budget agreement that stabilizes and reduces the U.S. debt. Published September 11, 2012
Economic recovery sending mixed signals before election
President Obama heads into the final weeks of his re-election campaign getting little support from an economy that is growing weakly and remains threatened by political turmoil at home and economic distress overseas. Published September 9, 2012
Unemployment falls to 8.1 percent; jobs up 96K; 368K drop out of market
The unemployment rate last month fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent as 96,000 more people found jobs and 368,000 dropped out of the labor market, the Labor Department reported Friday morning. Published September 7, 2012
China’s currency reforms may make ‘get tough’ promise moot
Presidential candidates of both parties like to score points with voters by promising to get tough with China, but recent evidence suggests that currency reforms quietly adopted by the Asian giant since 2005 have come close to eliminating the biggest trade distortion and bone of contention between the two countries. Published September 5, 2012
The Mean Economy: For housing industry, a fast fall and a slow rebound
Joseph Carr and his family know the ups and downs of the housing market well. They’ve lived it for the past five years. Published August 28, 2012
The Mean Economy: Even law firms hit hard by recession
Terri A. Doring used to take her comfortable middle-class lifestyle for granted. She figured that as a legal secretary at a well-regarded law firm here, she always would have plenty of work and get paid well for doing it. Published August 27, 2012
The Mean Economy: IBM workers suffer culture change as jobs go global
Cort Martin followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and made his career at IBM. That is what nearly everyone did in this town, the birthplace of the century-old technology titan. Published August 26, 2012
Offshoring: Coming to a small business near you
Large corporations have been reaping the harvest of profits and efficiency gains from automation and outsourcing for years, but many small businesses, which do not enjoy the same economies of scale, have missed out. Published August 26, 2012
Tech industry firms pushing for increase in foreign recruits
The debate on the pros and cons of off-shoring jobs mirrors a long-standing debate within the tech industry about the need to recruit foreign workers to fill jobs in the U.S. Published August 26, 2012
July surge in spending fraught with caution
U.S. consumers snapped out of a spring funk last month and went on a shopping spree. That sent sales at department stores, restaurants, auto showrooms and other retailers soaring by 0.8 percent, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday morning. Published August 14, 2012
