This is a nationwide trend now, but has always been more common in the NJ/NY area because of the high cost of living...

Quoted: With the recession forcing more grown kids to move back in with mom and dad, many blended families are dealing with the age-old question: Who’s the boss?

Interesting WSJ piece ... I guess necessity really is the mother of invention.

Quoted: For laid-off or worried workers, launching a business may seem the best path to survival. Here are the stories of five people who are taking that route—and the lessons they’ve learned so far.

Fascinating! I smell a blog post in this...

Quoted: Americans used to move to where the jobs were. But now home-ownership and health insurance freeze many of them to the spot.

In case you aren't already feeling sufficiently depressed about the economy, here's a nice little chart summarazing all the major layoffs this quarter...

Quoted: The following chart is a selection of some announcements of job cuts since the beginning of the year. Some numbers are estimates.

Sad, but true. I think this is a political issue too!

Quoted: Forget about two-week vacations. Many working people will be lucky to have a day-cation. While cyclical factors like gas prices and the slumping job market have something to do with this, the real culprits are longstanding trends that have altered the structure of our economy. As a result, more Americans view something that used to be an entitlement—paid time off—as an unaffordable or unavailable luxury.

Looks like NJ no longer has the distinction of cheapest gas in the country, but it does have one of the lowest gas taxes (14.5 cents per gallon).

Quoted: While the average gas price nationwide passed $4 last weekend, Missouri could boast of prices around $3.825, the cheapest in the country. How come the Show Me State has the lowest gas prices?

So interesting. Makes sense, economics are a big part of family planning...

Quoted: Smart journalists should never mistake a single data point for a meaningful development. Data isn't the plural of anecdote, as the saying goes. But every so often you have to go with your gut. And so I'm suggesting—not declaring—that the recent results from Pediatrix Medical Group may indicate that the slower economy is causing a decline in births.

Interesting Slate article about pick-your-own orchards and what fruit farmers need to do to make ends meet. But the author overlooks an important fact - nostalgia-based industries (parks, restaurants, etc. where you to experience another time/place/era) have always been popular and probably always will be.

Quoted: The NYT ran an article about fruit farmers in California who, because of a crackdown on illegal immigrants, couldn't find workers to pick their pears. As a result, perfectly good fruit rotted in the fields.