Old economy: Over-55 workers crowd out job hopes, economist says - 2005-04-02
A peculiar and worrisome piece of economic data has been uncovered by David Rosenberg, chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch: More than half the employed people added to the U.S. economy in the past year have been aged over 55.

"Employment in the 35-44 age category - you know, the segment that requires a job to carry the mortgage and feed the kids - is basically flat in the past year. And the 20-24 out-of-school cohort is actually down 63,000 in terms of employment."
Read the full story at Money Sense

Local mortgage firms searched by federal agents - 2005-04-02
The FBI handed out five criminal search warrants Thursday in Columbia at the offices of a handful of mortgage firms and at least one residence, said Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Richard Thornton.

The FBI’s investigation has required "a couple of months," Thornton said. But as of yesterday, there were no arrests or charges filed in connection with the searches.
Read the full story at Columbia Daily Tribune