UNEMPLOYMENT

Between 1990 and 2010, the rate of poverty rate on the continent plunged from 48.4 percent to 31.4 percent; while the rate of indigence (extreme poverty) dropped from 22.6 percent to 12.3 percent.

Here is a list of the top saddest cities in America, calculated and compiled by Men's Health magazine.

Wells Fargo Securities said there are still many signs that California's labor market remains deeply ill, despite the better job creation performance this year.

A November note from the Conference Board placed consumer confidence in the U.S. at a four-month high of 56.0, from a low of 40.9 in July. Most startlingly, however, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) soared to its largest month-over-month percentage gain since April, 2009 and its largest single points gain since April, 2003.

The Eurozone seems all set to enter a period of deep recession, with the credibility of governments' ability to keep the region in balance under serious doubt. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has already issued a warning that Eurozone and U.S. leaders must act urgently to stop their debt crises from spiralling out of control.

St. Petersburg, Fl., is apparently the saddest city in America, with Detroit, Mi. not far behind, according to a study by Men's Health magazine, which used data such as unemployment and suicid rates, antidepressant usage and the number of people who actually admitted to depression.

While President Barack Obama's 43 percent job-approval rating on the poll results Gallup released Tuesday shows an improvement over the 40 percent score he got a few weeks earlier, his shot at winning re-election looks uncertain considering that at this point in his term, even presidential pariah Jimmy Carter did better.

In a speech at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Rick Perry seemed to mix up the voting and drinking ages -- not to mention the date of the coming election. It was a slip of the tongue, not a substantive gaffe -- nobody really thinks Perry doesn't know the voting age -- but it was one of many YouTube-worthy moments of the Republican primary race.

Oregonians who get jobless and child support payments via ReliaCards will be able to receive free and unlimited point-of-sale, bank teller and U.S. Bank ATM transactions, under a new fee structure reached by Oregon Treasure Ted Wheeler and U.S. Bank.

The salary cap would save more than £1-billion by the 2014-15, Osborne claimed.

New legislation introduced by Senate Democrats on Monday would prolong and increase a payroll tax cut pushed by President Barack Obama, while introducing a de facto millionaire's tax. The proposal is the first step in what will likely be a prolonged budgetary battle on Capitol Hill.

It's a liberty walk/It's a liberty walk/It's a liberty, liberty, liberty/Oooh

The Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan said on Monday its budget surplus for 2011-12 will be less than a quarter of what it had forecast, due in part to a summer of severe flooding.

Police in riot gear closed in before dawn Monday on anti-Wall Street activists who defied a midnight deadline to vacate an 8-week-old encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall, but the police later pulled back.

Police in riot gear closed in before dawn Monday on anti-Wall Street activists who defied a midnight deadline to vacate an 8-week-old encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall, but the police later pulled back.

The stark truth of the matter is that unless the private sector starts hiring en masse (including non-profit organizations), absent a surge in exports, it will be up to the public sector to provide stimulus to create jobs.

New single-family home sales totaled 307,000 in October, an increase over the previous month, but fell below analysts' expectations.

The past Black Friday weekend saw record breaking sales figures as consumers are feeling more comfortable to purchase again. Job market outlook for early 2012 could provide another gentle boost to consumer spending, which accounts for as much as 70 percent of all U.S. growth.

Is the U.S. Federal Reserve likely to purchase more securities as part of a plan to help jump-start U.S. GDP growth? It is, if a survey of key bond dealers is accurate.

Germany and France stepped up a drive on Monday for intrusive powers to reject national budgets in the Eurozone that breach EU rules, as a market rout of European debt eased temporarily on hopes of outside help for Italy and Spain.

Hundreds of anti-Wall Street activists who faced eviction early Monday from their eight-week-old encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall will be allowed to stay put until at least dawn, a police official said.