plight

As analysts point to a handful of indicators that suggest the recession is easing, millions of laid-off workers remain caught it in its clutches.

The financial data so crucial to economists means nothing to people who've been jobless for nine months or a year.

To them, only one figure matters, and it's still going the wrong way.

The plight of homeowners unable to refinance despite massive aid to banks is a volatile political issue.

The unexpected improvement comes as a relief to the Obama administration, which plans to unveil new proposals next week to ease the plight of the jobless following its labor forum in Washington on Thursday.

A UN summit on the plight of the planet's one billion hungry opens in Rome on Monday.

Pension experts predict that a government takeover of the plans at G.M. and Chrysler would spur other auto companies and all types of manufacturers to abandon such benefits for competitive reasons.