Economy

Despite growing worries about a future surge in inflation, consumer prices barely budged last month and fell for all of 2009 -- the first annual decline in more than half a century. The latest report on the consumer price index, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, increases the likelihood that Federal Reserve officials at their next meeting later this month will stand pat on their policy of setting interest rates at near zero for "an extended period." In recent weeks, there have been increasing signs of a split at the Fed over how soon the central bank should begin tightening credit and monetary policy to avoid a future outbreak of inflation.

Drive through California's sprawling inland suburbs and you'll spot the familiar mileposts of a real estate bust: foreclosure signs, brown lawns and abandoned subdivisions. To see the damage in downtown San Diego, walk a few blocks. Then look straight up. There you'll see hundreds of unsold luxury condominiums stacked in vacant high-rises. Some units downtown are now selling for less than half what earlier buyers had paid during the market peak.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama spooled out a long list of proposals to lift the economy, create jobs and carry out his broader policy agenda. Some of the ideas are new; others had been announced. The following is a summary of the initiatives cited in the speech and where they stand: The economy and jobs To ease unemployment, Obama urged Congress to pass a jobs bill. The House narrowly passed a $174-billion measure in December, but the Senate has yet to act. The bill is one of Obama's main vehicles for jump-starting employment, which is the centerpiece of his 2010 agenda.

Among heaps of antiques, collectibles and vintage clothing, frugal shoppers are rediscovering a recession-friendly place where prices are low and haggling is welcome. In growing numbers since the recession began 18 months ago, they are heading to one of about 135 flea markets and swap meets in California, including those at the Rose Bowl and in Long Beach and San Bernardino.

Tens of thousands of Californians out of work for more than a year soon will be getting an extra 20 weeks of unemployment insurance checks, thanks to the federal economic stimulus program. The Legislature approved the extended benefits Thursday, and processing of them is expected to get underway as early as today after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs legislation authorizing the state to receive more than $3 billion from Washington.

Even during the ongoing recession, immigration reform legislation that legalizes undocumented immigrants would boost the American economy, according to a new study out of UCLA. The report said that legalization, along with a program that allows for future immigration based on the labor market, would create jobs, increase wages and generate more tax revenue. Comprehensive immigration reform would add an estimated $1.5 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years, according to the report.

At dawn, Sharif, 58, Kabul's most famous kebab man, goes to buy the best cut of meat and never even haggles about the price. By 12:30 p.m. his kebabs will be sold out, and waiters in his tiny smoked-filled restaurant will have to turn hungry and disappointed people away. Mohammed Hasan, 55, who has been tailor to kings and government officials for decades, is doing so well, he had to hang a sign in his shop, warning off new customers.

With her 5-week-old baby asleep face-down across her lap, Erica Richardson settled into a chair at the Union Rescue Mission and reviewed her strategies for staying sane while living with an infant in a homeless shelter. The key is to get away from the shelter during the day, the tired-looking 33-year-old said. Head to the park, to a friend's house, to any place where she can pretend, for a while anyway, that she is just another mom on an outing.

For foreign professionals in the United States, the rising unemployment rate is especially daunting. Laid-off foreign workers are scrambling for temporary visas and seeking advice from immigration attorneys about how long they can legally stay in the country while hunting for jobs. Even some foreigners here on visas or work permits are switching employers, fearing that an unstable job during a recession could lead to a one-way ticket home or end their chance of getting a green card.

The Obama administration's new plan to give a boost to small businesses reflects continued trouble in that sector, which is facing new failures even as much of the nation's economy is stabilizing. As credit lines have shrunk and consumers have cut back on spending, thousands of small businesses have closed their doors over the last year. The plight of struggling firms has been aggravated by the reluctance of banks to lend money, said Brian Headd, an economist at the Small Business Administration's office of advocacy.

In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew to a record 17.3% of the U.S. economy last year, marking the largest one-year jump in its share of the economy since the government started keeping such records half a century ago. The almost $2.5 trillion spent in 2009 was $134 billion more than the previous year, when healthcare consumed 16.2% of the gross domestic product, according to...

Eager to portray themselves as responsible stewards of the economy, congressional Democrats on Thursday pledged to enact a package of measures to spur job growth while taking steps to tackle the burgeoning federal budget deficit. "Our No. 1 emphasis is going to be on creating jobs," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said as he unveiled a set of proposals he hopes to pass in the coming weeks. At the same time, the House on Thursday passed a bill that requires legislation to detail how any proposed spending program or tax cut would be offset by savings elsewhere.

In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew to a record 17.3% of the U.S. economy last year, marking the largest one-year jump in its share of the economy since the government started keeping such records half a century ago. The almost $2.5 trillion spent in 2009 was $134 billion more than the previous year, when healthcare consumed 16.2% of the gross domestic product, according to...

In Southern California, where a once-thriving small-business economy has been hard-hit by the economic meltdown, hope and skepticism greeted President Obama's proposals last week to help small firms by jump-starting lending and rewarding firms that add jobs. "They realize small-business growth is the only way we are going to survive this," said Ruben Guerra, head of the Latin Business Assn. in Los Angeles. But so far, he says, "small business is not getting part of the action; big business is getting all the dollars."

The U.S. economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2009 at the fastest pace in six years, but many economists and business owners remained unconvinced that a full-scale recovery was underway or that substantial job growth would soon follow. The nation's total production of goods and services expanded at a heady 5.7% annual rate in the final three months of last year, the Commerce Department said Friday in its first estimate of the quarter's gross domestic product. That's more than double the 2.2% growth rate in the third quarter and a dramatic turnaround from the first three months of last year, when the economy was mired in deep recession and the GDP shrank at a 6.4% annual rate.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama spooled out a long list of proposals to lift the economy, create jobs and carry out his broader policy agenda. Some of the ideas are new; others had been announced. The following is a summary of the initiatives cited in the speech and where they stand: The economy and jobs To ease unemployment, Obama urged Congress to pass a jobs bill. The House narrowly passed a $174-billion measure in December, but the Senate has yet to act. The bill is one of Obama's main vehicles for jump-starting employment, which is the centerpiece of his 2010 agenda.

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke appeared to gain enough backing for confirmation to a second term, the central bank offered a more upbeat assessment of the economy than it did last month but still affirmed a pledge to keep interest rates near zero for "an extended period." For the first time in a year, however, the Fed rate-setting panel's statement, issued at the end of a two-day meeting Wednesday, came with a dissenting vote, which could presage an earlier-than-expected move to raise rates.

With his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama aims to deliver a game-changing message, one capable of convincing Americans that his policies will create jobs, curb spending and restore prosperity. But with voter discontent over his healthcare overhaul running high and the recession's effects cutting deep, the president's trademark eloquence may not be the antidote to his troubles. Economists see little hope for substantial employment gains or the return of a robust economy between now and November's midterm congressional election, despite Obama's $787-billion stimulus package.

Moving to address rising voter anger over federal deficits and the tattered shape of their own pocketbooks, President Obama will propose a freeze on non-defense-related federal spending as well as expanded aid to middle-class families in his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, White House aides said Monday. To counter the soaring federal deficit, which polls show is a major factor in voters' discontent, Obama will announce that the budget blueprint he files next week will contain a "hard freeze" on discretionary spending that lasts through 2013, an effort his advisors liken to the fiscal discipline average families impose on themselves every day. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden unveiled the outlines of their relief package for the middle class at a White House meeting Monday.

With congressional support eroding, his popularity falling and his renomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke potentially in trouble, President Obama faces an even more daunting task to save his entire domestic agenda -- convincing millions of angry Americans that his economic policies will bring them a brighter future. Even as the economy has begun clawing its way out of the Great Recession and job losses have slowed dramatically, critics on the left and right -- even party loyalists -- say the president has failed to articulate a clear economic vision.