Stocks Profile

WASHINGTON – Healthcare employment rose by 17,000 in November 2011, according to a report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in early December.

Upward revisions to September and October employment figures added another 12,000 health jobs, changing the employment picture of October from a low growth month to an average growth month.

Healthcare accounts for 10.8 percent of total U.S. employment.

More than half the healthcare job growth was in hospitals, which added nearly 9,000 jobs.

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Credit card delinquencies still near record low levels

The credit card delinquency rate on a national level increased in the third quarter (Q3) of 2011, TransUnion said in a recent report, but delinquency levels remain near record lows nonetheless.

Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting in TransUnion’s financial services business said that this is the first increase on a quarterly basis in nearly two years but also mentioned that the current delinquency rate – even taking into consideration the latest increase – is the second lowest nationwide rate seen in 16 years.

The national credit card delinquency rate at the end of Q3 2011 stood at 0.71 percent, while average credit card debt per borrower rose $63 to $4762, TransUnion said.

“We find card delinquency being driven by a number of factors.

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So you made your list and checked it twice (Hooray for holiday puns!) to make sure you got gifts for everyone on your list. Now its time to decorate. Crank up the holiday music and get to work. One problem before you get crackin though. Holiday decorations are expensive, especially the ones advertised on the end-cap at stores like Wal-Mart and CVS Pharmacy. So how can we decorate without further emptying out our wallets this holiday?

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  (George Skene/ McClatchy-Tribune photo / October 20, 2009)

Q: What impact will a short sale have on my credit rating? Will it be better for me to let the property go to foreclosure? A: That’s a tough question because, to my knowledge, the various credit rating agencies have different approaches to determining ratings. More significantly, once you start falling behind on your monthly mortgage payments, your credit rating is already falling, so its difficult to separate the bad credit from the impact of a short sale. Full post…