Main Street 9

(Fortune Small Business) — With commodity, fuel and insurance costs hitting record highs, small-business owners are anxious about next week’s federal minimum wage hike, which will require employers in 26 states and the District of Columbia to raise their base to at least $6.55.
Next week’s increase of the current $5.85/hour minimum wage is the second [...]

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President Bush on Saturday tried to pin the blame on Congress for soaring energy prices and said lawmakers need to lift long-standing restrictions on drilling for oil in pristine lands and offshore tracts believed to hold huge reserves of fuel.
“It’s time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing [...]

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Oil companies once viewed drilling in the deep waters off Florida as cost prohibitive. Politicians feared even the slightest sign of support would be career suicide.
No more. Record crude oil prices are fueling support for oil and natural gas exploration off the nation’s shores. In Florida, movement was underway even before President Bush called on [...]

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The economic downturn is hitting middle-aged and older American workers hard, forcing more than one in four to postpone retirement, according to a survey released Tuesday by the AARP.
Twenty-seven percent of workers aged 45 and older said they had put their retirement plans on hold because of the slowing economy, AARP reported.
“The current economic downturn [...]

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 Americans are feeling a lot more economic pain than the government’s official statistics would lead you to believe, according to a growing number of experts.
They argue that figures for unemployment and inflation are being understated by the government.
Unemployment and inflation are typically added together to come up with a so-called “Misery Index.”
The “Misery Index” was [...]

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