economy

Maine gas prices were down another eight cents per gallon this week, the average price for a gallon of gas in Maine is now at $2.48. That's according to the price-monitoring website GasBuddy.com.

Family Dollar is closing stores nationwide. The discount chain is closing 370 of their 8,100 stores in 46 states.

It’s not easy being unemployed or under-employed, but you are definitely not alone. Even with a highly positive new jobs report just out and the country apparently on an upswing, an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent means a lot of people still need jobs. But that doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless for anyone. If you’re spent on looking for available jobs in your current locale because it seems

The Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy added 157,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate inched upward by a tenth of a point, to 7.9 percent.

Job postings are up around the state of Maine. The CareerCenter and the Department of Labor said Androscoggin County is just one county of many in Maine seeing a significant increase in postings. This is good news, but it is not the whole picture.

America is a middle-class nation, at least if you ask Americans. Gallup surveyed 1,009 adults if they were "upper class," "upper-middle class," "middle class," "working class" or "lower class."

Retailers are competing hard to get inside your wallet this holiday season, and as a result, there are big savings to be found in checkout lines all across the country. We know a few ways you can take advantage of this.

We all know some of the best sales of the year come right after Christmas. So here's an interesting thought: Why not do your holiday shopping in early January and get more bang for your gift-giving buck?

The median net worth of working-class Americans is now lingering at a 43-year low of $57,000.

Lawmakers in Texas are exploring affordable-education options for people under the financial hammer of the nation’s exploding tuition rates. The most controversial option is a bachelor’s degree for $10,000, which would cover tuition costs and textbooks.

For those holiday shoppers wanting a second chance at the deals they might have missed over Thanksgiving weekend, Cyber Monday awaits. And while there may be a bit less hand-to-hand combat involved, industry experts say that Cyber Monday is great for bargains—as long as you know where to look.

While some fanatical Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are already at the gates waiting to assault the holiday-shopping season with their fearsome craving for stuff, some retail analysts say the gates are actually open now and the race is already in progress. Thom Blischok, chief retail strategist for Booz and Company says, “Cyber Monday has begun, essentially. No question about it.” Read Mor

Trying to find the lowest prices on toys this holiday season? The latest industry report indicates that Amazon.com has better deals than retail giants Walmart, Target and everyone else.

Good news for college students: the job market is starting to look a little brighter, with 5 percent more employment opportunities predicted for new college graduates this year, according to a recent survey conducted by the Michigan State University’s Collegiate Employment Research Institute.

If you occasionally fall victim to the holiday blues, you'd better learn to shake it off. A recent study finds that the sadder a person is, the more likely he is to head down the road to bankruptcy.

Negotiations between President Obama and the Republican-led House of Representatives over the "fiscal cliff" are heating up. Some economists believe if a compromise isn't made by December 31 of this year, the U.S. economy could fall back into recession.