Hourly pay for temporary census takers working on the 2010 U.S. Census varies according to location. Persons thinking of applying for census taker jobs can find out what the job will pay by using the interactive U.S. map on the 2010 Census Jobs Web site. (more)

No longer wallowing in the diplomatic slop, the United States and Russia have reached an agreement that will fully reopen Russian markets to U.S. pork and pork products. (more)

While economists got out their pom-poms last week to celebrate the news that official unemployment is only 9.7 percent (while skillfully ignoring the increase in underemployment and the 40 percent of the unemployed who have been that way for six months or more), Americans weren’t buying their routine. A new Rasmussen poll shows that despite official optimism, 34 percent of Americans think unemployment will be worse in a year. While 29 percent of those polled think that unemployment will go down, another ... (more)

A majority of Americans say the United States is less respected in the world than two years ago and believe President Obama and other Democrats fall short of Republicans on the issue of national security, according to a poll by two left-leaning groups. The Democracy Corps-Third Way survey released Monday finds that by a 10-point margin — 51 percent to 41 percent — Americans think the standing of the United States has dropped during the first 13 months of Mr. Obama's presidency (more)

If President Obama's latest budget proposal is followed, the national debt would grow to represent 90 percent of the total U.S. economy by 2020, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis. (more)

The Justice Department has confirmed that information-sharing provisions of the USA Patriot Act will not threaten the confidentiality of answers given in response to the 2010 Census. (more)

The National Center for Policy Analysis explains the results of a recent Ball State University study into the effects of the recent minimum wage increase, which the authors say cost 550,000 jobs: A study of part-time workers monitored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 1999 to 2009 found that raising the minimum wage to its current level of $7.25 during the recent recession caused some businesses to scale back on filling vacant positions or eliminate jobs altogether, says Michael J. Hicks, directo... (more)

The 2010 U.S. Census questionnaires are on their way to every residential mailbox in the nation and yes, people can be fined for not responding, but why would they do that? The 2010 census only asks 10 simple questions, and people who answer them will be helping their communities get their share of over $400 billion in government assistance. (more)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has filed a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw the license application for the Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository located 80 miles outside of Las Vegas. (more)

Fresno County, California has agreed to pay a Navy reservist who suffered serious injuries during a military training exercise $57,000 for violations of his employment rights, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. (more)