Economy

The U.S.

This morning at 8:30, the U.S. Department of Labor will release its unemployment report for the month of July. 

Meanwhile, about two weeks ago, the Maryland unemployment report for June came out, showing that the state lost about 11,000 jobs in that month, up from the month before.

What it means to be poor in Maryland, one of the nation's wealthiest states: With Elizabeth Kneebone, senior research associate and associate fellow, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program; Ralph Moore, director emeritus, St.

In the first hour, a look at poverty on the national scale. Is the economy really to blame for the increase? What is happening to our safety nets? W

AARP says the number of older Americans seriously delinquent on loans jumped more than 450 percent in the last five years. Some 3.5 million older homeowners are underwater on their mortgages.  Older African Americans and Hispanics are the hardest hit. A look at how the mortgage crisis has effected the country's senior citizens and left millions of them fiscally vulnerable in retirement.

With new economic pressures, more and more nuclear families are living together longer. Usually that means young adults moving back in with thier parents after school. Johns Hopkins professor Katherine Newman has written a new book about the trend and its impact.

MSNBC host and Nation writer Chris Hayes argues that since the 1960s, the country's meritocracy has embraced the growing economic inequality that has placed them near the very top, spawning a new American elite -- one that becomes corrupt to preserve its status. In “Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy,” Hayes warns of a crisis of authority that engulfs not just our politics but our day-to-day lives.

Last month, the entire staff at Timonium-based Big Huge Games was laid off after parent company 38 Studios went under. But Big Huge talent is already getting snatched up by other video game companies in Maryland.  A look at the state's video game industry, how the success of one man, Sid Meier, known as the "godfather" of gaming, influenced it, and how Maryland has become one of the country's leading game hubs.