Average health care costs for U.S. employers rose by 7.3 percent in 2009, surpassing inflation and the growth rate in overall health care spending, a Thomson Reuters report said Monday.
Overall U.S. health care spending, including Medicare, Medicaid, and other payers, grew by 4.8 percent in 2009, the report found.
“In a year when inflation was non-existent, [...]
Archive for the ‘Economic Turmoil’ Category
Employer health care costs rise 7.3 percent
March 22nd, 2010 by Financial Writer
Tags: healthcare, science business, us companies, us employers, us health
more...Geithner warns US unemployment will remain high
March 16th, 2010 by Financial Writer
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday warned jobless Americans they face a torrid year ahead, predicting continued high unemployment levels despite advances “sometime this spring.”
Speaking in Congress, Geithner said some improvements in the decimated US job market would come soon, but not enough to eat into the near double-digit unemployment that has brought the [...]
Tags: americans' homes, economic recovery, geithner, us job market, us unemployment
European markets lifted by industrial output data
March 12th, 2010 by Financial Writer
European stock markets rose Friday after a strong set of industrial production figures for January stoked hopes that the recovery from recession in the 16 countries that use the euro may be stronger than previously thought.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 18.60 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,635.86 while Germany’s DAX [...]
Tags: economic recovery, european markets, european stock markets, us consumer, wall street
India aims to be world’s fastest growing economy
March 11th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Just how fast can India grow? Ask Manal Farooq, who can’t make gloves quickly enough.
“We are facing a major problem,” said Farooq, a senior executive at Marvel Gloves Industries, which produces 3 million pairs of gloves a month, most used in industrial production in India. “Despite importing gloves we are not able to meet demand.”
The [...]
Tags: businesses, economic survey, great recession, growing economy, household, india
BofA to end all overdraft fees on debit cards
March 10th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. It’s a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees.
Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission [...]
Tags: bank of america, banking industry, big banks, customers, debit cards, Federal Reserve
Ten cities managing to weather the recession
March 9th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Las month business in Washington, D.C. ground to a halt as record snowfalls pummeled the area and a sparring match over national health care reform hijacked the political conversation. But the nation’s capital is getting something right: It is emerging from the recession better than any other major city in the country, according to research [...]
Tags: business, economic recovery, month business, recession, unemployment
Program to pay homeowners to sell at a loss
March 8th, 2010 by Financial Writer
In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave.
This latest program, which will allow owners to sell for less than they owe and will give them a little cash to [...]
Tags: borrowers, foreclosure, households, mortgage, mortgage finance, owners
Iceland votes over foreign debts, economy at risk
March 6th, 2010 by Financial Writer
Icelanders voted in a referendum on Saturday on a $5 billion deal to repay Anglo-Dutch loans, with an expected resounding “No” set to further delay foreign aid and hopes for economic recovery.
Despite the consequences of rejecting the standing deal, Icelanders are set to do just that, angry about what they see as harsh repayment terms [...]
Tags: debts, european union, iceland, icelanders, loans, private bankers
Lower interest rates? Not in the (credit) cards
March 5th, 2010 by Financial Writer
It sounds like a victory for credit card users — a rule that would require banks to review any interest rate hikes every six months, and lower rates when appropriate.
Yet loopholes in the Federal Reserve’s latest proposal could let banks avoid rolling back rates in most cases.
To start, the proposal issued Wednesday wouldn’t require banks [...]
Tags: american bankers, banks, credit card users, credit cards, interest rate, lower interest rates
Markets look for political leadership
March 3rd, 2010 by Financial Writer
The fundamental, and at times, passionate debate about sovereign debt is a predictable part of the sequencing of the financial crisis rumbling through the West. The crisis has exposed three major fault lines in our fiscal systems. First, it broke the banking system, the fixing of which has extracted a heavy cost. Second, it shocked [...]
Tags: banking system, borrowing, debt crisis, economic growth, financial crisis