Recession

Two decades ago, real estate mogul Randy Black turned this blip on the Arizona border into a boomtown when he opened the first of four casinos. Nearly 1 million visitors a year followed, and hotels, restaurants and stucco homes seemed to sprout from sand. "It seemed to be one of those things that 'Geez, it's just going great. It's never going to end,' " said Victor Kotalion, who left Las Vegas in 1990 for this arid patch off Interstate 15.

Unemployment in California shot to 11.2% in March, the highest level since the state began keeping records. What's more, the number of people out of work for almost a year rose by 9.4%, and has now doubled in the last 12 months. Carpenter Luiz Vasquez knows the frustration all too well. In the last year, he said, he worked only two weeks. "I go through town, and I do not hear the sound of work," said Vasquez, 40, who is seeking help through a Chrysalis job center in Santa Monica.

On a recent Saturday night, Savannah Stern earned $300 to hang out for seven hours at a party in Santa Monica wearing nothing but a feather boa. The veteran of more than 350 hard-core pornography productions took the job to earn extra cash and to network. But the word at the 35th anniversary party for Hustler magazine was not heartening, especially among the roughly 75 other women working there. "At least five girls I haven't seen in a while came up to me and said, 'Savannah, are you working?

California's unemployment rate in May hit 11.5% -- its highest level in more than three decades -- but the pain of losing work isn't being shared equally between the sexes. The state lost 68,900 jobs in May as unemployment rose from a revised 11.1% in April and 6.8% in May 2008. This is the highest rate since the national record-keeping system began in 1976. Out of every four jobs lost nationwide since the recession began in December 2007, three have been lost by men.

Trade at international ports is on track to drop more than 10% this year, one of the steepest declines ever, according to a new maritime industry report. Cargo ships will carry 27 million fewer containers by year's end than they did in 2008 -- a reduction roughly equivalent to all of the cargo containers handled by the five busiest U.S. seaports in a typical year, according to London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants' Container Forecaster Report. "There has never been a decline like this before.

It's official: This recession is the worst the United States has experienced in more than 25 years, the government said Friday. And it appears likely to get worse before it gets better. At the White House, where the new administration is working on a broad strategy to combat the crisis, President Obama described the downturn as "a continuing disaster for America's working families."

The pace of job losses slowed considerably during the month of April, adding to hopes that the nation's steep economic downturn may be nearing a bottom. Employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest in six months and significantly fewer than the 699,000 jobs that had been lost the previous month, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. Still, the job market for Americans is difficult and getting worse. The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 8.

With debt-burdened American consumers cutting back in response to the recession, many U.S. companies are increasingly looking outward, toward fast-developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. But instead of seeing these nations primarily as cheap producers of goods to sell to Americans, U.S. corporate leaders see them as potential customers for American products and services. That shift, which has been underway for several years but has intensified sharply during the downturn, comes as vast numbers of families in these emerging economies are moving into cities and spending like never before to improve their living standards.

Happy hour is getting happier, and that's making restaurants sadder. As the recession drags on, drinkers such as Luis Romero of Anaheim are gravitating to happy hour -- that late-afternoon period when bars and restaurants sell discounted drinks and food to attract customers during what otherwise would be a slow time. "You start watching your pennies a bit more," said Romero as he sipped a $3.

With struggling automakers expected to announce the shutdown of thousands of dealerships starting today, cities are bracing for a wave of blight. The closings will dump thousands of large, oddly configured parcels into an already reeling commercial real estate market. Many are likely to remain empty for a long time, monuments to the decline of the U.S. auto industry and the intensity of this recession.