Now that it's official, and expected to continue for at least six months, the recession will continue to take a toll in lost investment income and jobs. There are a number of things you can do to protect your finances against a possible layoff or other losses. (Midmorning, 12/04/2008)

Day care providers worry as the economic downturn hits parents' pocketbooks. (12/02/2008)

A panel of the National Bureau of Economic Research says the U.S. economy fell into a recession last year. (12/01/2008)

Recent studies suggest that even in good times, Americans in the middle and lower classes largely stayed there, going back decades. What concerns economists even more is that people in the middle class tend to have a tough time recovering after recessions. (Midmorning, 12/01/2008)

Retailers from around the region talk about what they are doing differently this year because of the down economy and low consumer confidence. (11/28/2008)

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar joins Midday to answer questions about the economy and other big issues facing Congress. (Midday, 11/26/2008)

The closing of six Denny Hecker auto dealerships in the Twin Cities area late last week has cast a pall over the region's surviving dealers. Some industry observers expect more closings. Others, though, say the doom and gloom is overdone and that conditions are not so bad. (11/24/2008)

Stocks rallied strongly at the end of the session, after a report that President-elect Barack Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. (11/21/2008)

Minnesota has lost jobs for the last four months in a row, and thousands more jobs are expected to be lost before things get better. What happens to workers in their 50s and 60s who experience an unwelcome layoff? (Midmorning, 11/21/2008)

Thousands of Minnesotans have already learned to live creatively on very little, and have done so for years quite successfully. They're artists and they have some advice to share with the rest of us. (11/19/2008)

World leaders wrapped up their Group of 20 summit on the international economy without agreeing on a coordinated stimulus package. Meanwhile, a lame duck Congress meets this week to consider an auto industry bailout and other possible fixes for America's struggling economy. (Midday, 11/17/2008)

Capping another volatile session for the stock market, the key averages ended with a late decline. (11/14/2008)

World economies are undergoing a dramatic shift in a crisis that many blame on the U.S.'s irresponsible lending and lack of regulation. President Bush has called a meeting of the 20 countries who control the world's economy to be held in Washington, DC over the weekend. But even before it begins, economists and analysts say the group has a long way to go before reaching agreements. (Midmorning, 11/14/2008)

Stocks mounted a huge rebound after being down sharply earlier in the session. The Dow soared 552 points to 8,835. (11/13/2008)

A new plan proposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may help reduce the loans of homeowners who are facing foreclosure, but it leaves out most borrowers with subprime loans. And treasury secretary Henry Paulson has offered no new plans for how bailout money might be used to stem the financial crisis. (Midmorning, 11/13/2008)