NEW YORK - April 9, 2009 - Global shipping rates are set to fall by 74 per cent this year as commodity demand continues to fall in Asia and the massive glut of vessels ordered during the boom years finally takes to the seas.

DETROIT, Michigan - April 8, 2009 - Den Black, a retired General Motors Corp. engineering executive, says he’s worried and angry. The government-supported automaker is going bankrupt, he says, and he’s sure some of his retirement pay will go down with it.

NEW YORK - April 7, 2009 - A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.

NEW YORK - April 7, 2009 - More U.S. consumers are falling behind on their mortgages, an indication that the housing market has yet to hit bottom, a top credit bureau executive told Reuters.

NEW YORK - April 6, 2009 - A record number of consumers are falling delinquent or into default on their loans, a problem that some economists say will only get worse this year.

NEW YORK - April 6, 2009 - Cities and counties are reporting a sharp increase in homeless families as the economic crisis leads to job loss and makes housing unaffordable.

WASHINGTON - April 5, 2009 - In the coming weeks and months, hundreds of thousands of jobless Amerikans will exhaust their unemployment benefits, just when it's never been harder to find a job.