Hope Yen

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  Census shows record number of counties dying

  By Hope Yen  |  March 14, 2013

  A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere.

• New gauge shows 49.7 million American poor

  By Hope Yen  |  November 14, 2012

  The ranks of America's poor edged up last year to a high of 49.7 million, based on a new census measure that takes into account medical costs and work-related expenses.

• Retirement worries grow; 30-somethings most uneasy

  By Hope Yen  |  October 22, 2012

  Younger Americans in their late 30s are now the group most likely to doubt they will be financially secure after retirement; no longer are baby boomers the most unsure.

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  US Postal Service to default on second $5 billion

  By Hope Yen  |  September 28, 2012

  The post office will hit a new low in cash next month but can avert immediate bankruptcy due to a series of retirement incentives, which saved $2 billion last year.

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  Census data another sign economy’s hit bottom

  By Hope Yen  |  September 20, 2012

  Americans are on the move again after putting their lives on hold and staying put. More young adults are leaving their parents' homes to take a chance with college or the job market, while once-sharp declines in births are leveling off and poverty is slowing.

• Post office nears historic default

  By Hope Yen  |  July 30, 2012

  The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency's solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink.

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  Poverty returns to record highs

  By Hope Yen  |  July 23, 2012

  The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

• More than 7 in 10 US teens jobless in summer

  By Hope Yen  |  June 13, 2012

  Once a rite of passage to adulthood, summer jobs for teens are disappearing.

• Senate nears passage of bill to slow postal cuts

  By Hope Yen  |  April 25, 2012

  Bankruptcy at the Postal Service this fall could be avoided by offering retirement incentives to 100,000.

• Senate seeks ways to save ailing US Postal Service

  By Hope Yen  |  April 17, 2012

  With big postal cuts looming, the Senate is deciding whether to stabilize the ailing U.S. Postal Service with a short-term cash infusion while delaying most decisions on closing post offices and ending Saturday mail delivery by requiring further review.