The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

Amid encouraging job figures that the private sector is surging, it’s important to take a second look at the sad state of the so-called “American Dream.”

In a new article, the New York Times does just that, finding that “Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. The mobility gap has been widely discussed in academic circles, but a sour season of mass unemployment and street protests has moved the discussion toward center stage.”

A major reason for this upward mobility issue is rooted deep into the results of the recent Recession: more people, are more poor than they’ve ever been, meaning younger generations, including our nation’s children, have farther to climb to get out of poverty.…

The days between Thanksgiving and Christmas had many people wondering where America’s lingering financial issues went as millions of shoppers returned to our nation’s stores, malls and gallerias en masse to take advantage of extreme sales (and savings) and, in doing so, generated the most successful Black Friday for retailers ever.

A new report found that, in fact, retailers seduced shoppers at record rates despite the sluggish economy. “The 3.4 percent increase in same-store sales reported by Thomson Reuters was better than expected — an optimistic sign in an ailing economy. Still, it’s unclear how often people will shop in the upcoming year, a factor that will depend more on whether they find jobs than on how much retailers innovate or drop prices.…

According to a new report from the 2012 U.S. Banking Sector Outlook, the New Year’s ring could signal a major “cha-ching” for banks in 2012, as financial institutions all across the country react to timely federal restrictions by scrambling to add new fees to their recession weary customers.

Coming from a new report from The Huffington Post’s Catherine New, “ In 2012, expect to see higher minimum balance requirements and an ongoing push to increase customers’ credit card spending, according to a “2012 U.S. Banking Sector Outlook” report from Trepp, an analytics company that provides information to the banking industry.…

We all know that the Christmas holiday is a time for turkey-filled table settings, overstuffed family reunions, and, quite literally, reflecting on what we are fortunate to have- for large and small blessings throughout the year. But for many jobless Americans from California to the Carolinas, finding even the smallest things to be grateful for is more of a struggle in 2011 than possibly ever before, as they not only face limited unemployment incomes, but diminishing benefits in the new year.

In fact, according to an October analysis released by the National Employment Law Project, 1.8 million out-of-work Americans will have to find a way to live if Congress fails to pass a bill extending federal unemployment payments by year’s end.…

Historically speaking, the day after Thanksgiving often leaves many people asking, “what Recession?” as millions of American shoppers cut coupons, stand in long lines, and bombard our nation’s stores for extreme sales on what has now come to be know as “Black Friday.” In fact, last year we saw even bigger crowds at many stores including Best Buy, Sears, Macy’s and Toys R Us, which offered earlier openings than in past years or even round-the-clock hours meant to draw in average American shoppers.

Apparently, if television retailers are any indication of shopping season insanity, 2010 Black Friday trends will only continue in earnest this year as many Big Box stores shell out big deals to keep you coming back for more.…

Ghosts and goblins and ghouls are normally the horrifying hallmarks of annual Halloween holiday, satisfying generations of trick-or-treaters, horror movie aficionados, and lovers of frightfully fun parties during every seasonal stand.

But in these tough economic times, when consumerism can’t keep up with flagging incomes and mounting debt, the scariest thing about Halloween may be that we spend so much money on it.

A new report reveals a whole industry has emerged to deal with rising demand for costumes and other customary accouterments, raising Halloween-related revenues from around $6 million in 1988 to over $6 billion in 2011.

“Temporary Halloween stores have boomed in the years since the Sears experiment, growing in the past 10 years at a faster rate than spending for the holiday.…

We talk a lot here about the trials and travails of underemployment, a perpetual condition of post-recessionary America, in which many, if not most, workers face stagnant wages and/or part-time jobs that fail to keep up with the rising cost of living in the new economy.

In particular, retail workers struggle for hours amid a weak economic recovery, clamoring for extra work in this lower-skilled and paying field. In fact, according to a new article by The Huffington Post, the difference between full and part-time employment can often be the difference between eking out a living or earning a quick trip into insolvency.…

In the years since the end of America’s recent Great Recession, there have been plenty of ups and downs in economic forecasts, fiscal prognostications, and financial facts and figures. But as mortgages rates rose forcing many into foreclosure, the personal health of those impacted went on the decline, as the real estate reckoning wrought a wave of depressed homeowners.

In fact, according to a new article by The Huffington Post, “The damaging mental-health effects of the fragile economy have been a subject of study since the throes of the Great Recession, and with the economy now settling into a state of near-inertia, those same health consequences appear likely to continue to afflict Americans who view their financial position as precarious.…

If you’re unemployed you have a ton to worry about.

Past due bills, mounting debts, going without health insurance, possible repossession of your car or foreclosure of your home, are just some of the not-so-pleasant thoughts plaguing the millions of average Americans facing extended joblessness.

Unfortunately, now there’s one more concern to add to the job market meltdown mix: a new report by the National Employment Law Project has found that employers are continuing to discriminate against unemployed people in their online job ads despite increased scrutiny surrounding the nation’s hiring practices.

According to a new report by The Huffington Post, “The jobs crisis is far from over: As of June, nearly 6.3 million U.S.…

In the two years since the end of America’s recent Great Recession, there have been plenty of ups and downs in economic forecasts, fiscal prognostications, and financial facts and figures. Polls have also been a big part of taking the country’s financial pulse, as average Americans are often asked, “how are you feeling now, post-recession?”

Some experts will tell you that as recently as last fall—with news that businesses were back to hiring, some saying the housing market was no longer in a tailspin, and the economy looking less bleak than before—men and women throughout the country were beginning to feel better about their personal financial prospects.…

Just when the financial experts said it was safe to call the economy “in recovery,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says many Americans will face hard times for a long time to come.

Geithner reemphasized in an episode of “Meet the Press” that we remain in the midst of a very tough economy in which, for a lot of people, “it’s going to feel very hard, harder than anything they’ve experienced in their lifetime now, for a long time to come.” He also revealed that he believed  President Barack Obama has rescued the United States from a second Great Depression and will continue the hard work of trying to strengthen the economy.  Unfortunately, Geithner also predicted that it would be some time before many people actually feel like the country is recovering.…

According to last week’s Federal Reserve report, U.S. consumer credit rose by another $5.08 billion in May–a figure that suggested a willingness for millions to keep borrowing despite an exceptionally tight job market.

In a recap of these new figures by Reuters, the news agency said, “The May rise, coming after a revised $5.67 billion increase in April, handily topped forecasts by Wall Street economists for a $4 billion increase and marked the eighth straight month of growth in consumer credit. The total of all consumer credit outstanding in May was $2.432 trillion, up from a total of $2.427 trillion in April.…

With the rebound of the credit card industry in full swing for 2011, more and more credit cards are being made available to consumers—often via aggressive tactics—than in quite some time. And amid these plentiful offers for plastic there come enticing rewards of all types, with a litany of merits for the cautious consumer and just as many drawbacks for average Americans attempting to get out (and stay out) of debt.

Along with this trend comes a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, revealing that holders of cashback reward cards, in particular, are more willing to assume and carry higher debt loads.…

While a majority of economists and other financial experts firmly believe we are experiencing a modest economic recovery, a new poll reveals that a large, vocal minority of Americans feel that the economy will never fully recover from the effects of the recent “Great Recession.”

A New York Times/CBS News poll found that 39 percent of people responding believe “the current economic downturn is part of a long-term permanent decline and the economy will never fully recover.” The survey is one of many revealing overall distress with the current state of the American economic picture. Back in June, a CNN poll found that nearly half of Americans believe another Great Depression is either “very likely” or “somewhat likely.”

According to a recent article by The Huffington Post, there are even more signs that a lot of the nation’s folks are feeling financially fraught.…

In these tough economic times, some households have had to put basic needs above plans for higher education, turning to personal savings and college funds to fight off foreclosure, meet mounting medical costs, and in some cases, even keep the lights on and food in the fridge. In the wake of the recent Recession, many commentators have begun to question the cost-benefit of analysis of spending for higher education versus the realities of the jobs (and salaries) earned as a result.

But according to a new Gallup/Sallie Mae study, despite tightening budgets and high unemployment, most students and their families are not cutting back on education.…

In these rough and tumble economic times, some households have been forced to put low-level, basic needs above long-term plans for higher education, turning to personal savings and what they previously considered to be college funds to fight off home foreclosure, meet mounting medical costs, and in some cases, even keep the lights on and food in the fridge.

Even more striking is that during the recent Great Recession and in its recent wake, many commentators have begun to question the very cost-benefit of analysis of spending for higher education versus the realities of the jobs (and salaries) earned as a result.…

It may seem strange, the whole prospect of turning a timely tax return into a bankruptcy, but in a nation currently dealing with a healthy debt load, the whole idea that half of Americans get some form or return, comes at a good time for those looking to pay down those debts, or, better yet, find a longer-term solution for their cash-strapped situation.

And so, with tax deadlines just around the corner, and with millions of people just like you expecting returns, if not significant refunds averaging several thousand dollars, some of you may consider using this money for luxury items or a start on a pretty, new car.…

When asked in a recent interview by Anna Robertson of Yahoo! News what he had to say to America’s 14.5 million unemployed, the Vice President Joe Biden responded, “hang in there.” Pointing to a slow and gradual national recovery, Biden said that while the unemployment rate is only “dropping minimally,” the economy is slowly improving, leaving Americans to wait it out. “A significant portion of the companies out there … are saying now that they’re gonna begin to hire this year,” he said. “The message is hang in there, things are coming back.”

While millions of hopeful men and women attempt to heed the Vice President’s advice and wait for things to return to pre-recessionary “normality,” the realities of the current economic malaise are bleaker.…

As you made your New Year’s resolutions to dispense with debt and start on the road to saving, it appears many American banks made their own commitments to upping customer fees and, in the process, further padding their coffers in 2011.

In fact, according to a new article from The New York Times’ Ron Lieber, “Earlier this month, Bank of America announced its intent to test a number of different monthly fees for customers in some states, depending on the balance in their accounts or other relationships with the institution. Right before the new year, meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase informed customers that under certain circumstances it would add monthly fees to many of the accounts it inherited from the now-deceased Washington Mutual.”

Banks are justifying these fee increases by blaming federal regulators, regulators who, in reality are actually making fees lower, or, at least, as Lieber describes it, more transparent.…

For the most optimistic Americans, facing the notion of job insecurity, layoffs can be seen as an opportunity: for new and possibly better-paying work, to start a business, or pursue other career paths. But in tough economic times, these dreams for a better option can quickly become a nightmare as the realities of the nation’s employment scarcity take hold, turning what can normally be an exciting time of self-discovery into a fearful world of self-doubt.

Never is this more true than during the holidays, when the out-of-work are not only thinking of caring for themselves, but also what they can provide for their families, whether it be a warm, comfortable home or a load of presents under the tree.…