Median prices have risen, but people still can’t afford the houses because they can’t find work.

Keep moving forward.

Home prices rose in nearly 60 percent of U.S. cities in the first quarter of this year, as the housing market started to stabilize thanks to billions of dollars in federal spending.

The median sales price for previously occupied homes rose in 91 out of 152 metropolitan areas tracked in the January-March quarter versus a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Chrysler Group LLC says it will rehire 379 laid-off workers and hire 20 new supervisors to build transmissions at its operations in Kokomo, Indiana.

The company said Tuesday that it will invest $43 million in equipment to expand the Kokomo operations, which include casting and transmission plants.

I’m sure this news will come as a comfort to the hundreds of others who are still looking for work. As President Obama says, it’s a positive sign. (cough)

More than two thirds of Americans who’ve been unable to sell their home and buy one that better fits their needs have cut back on household expenses such as food, entertainment and clothing in order to pay their mortgage, a survey released Tuesday shows.

Homeowners who have fallen on financial hard times have made other sacrifices and lifestyle changes: About a third have downsized to a smaller home or delayed expanding their family as planned.

Responsible homeowners do what they need to do to save their home. Believe me, I know.

A trio of former Washington Mutual officials and a trove of documents on Tuesday portrayed a pattern of breakneck loan-making and alleged fraud at the biggest U.S. bank ever to fail.

Former CEO Kerry Killinger defended WaMu’s actions at a Senate hearing and insisted the government should not have seized it at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008.

Killinger argued that WaMu had adequate capital and shouldn’t have been shut down and sold for a “bargain” price of $1.9 billion. The bank “should have been given a chance to work its way through the crisis,” he testified at a hearing by a Senate panel.

At the time they closed I had three “collectors” calling me, three times (each) per day, trying to tell me I owed three times as much as I really owed. Yeah, their math was bad. Since they closed, I have received one phone call, and that was a wrong number.

If their math was that bad with my account, I can’t imagine what they may have done with people’s mortgages.

California officials say former “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson has failed to pay $493,000 in personal income tax.

Anderson is on the annual list of delinquent taxpayers released Monday by the California Franchise Tax Board.

The 42-year-old actress is currently competing on the television show “Dancing With the Stars.”

Wow. I wonder how she got that far behind? Her assets must have been a little top-heavy.

It sounds good, but when will the administration learn you cannot fix things by adding more rules and regulations?

Drivers will have to pay more for cars and trucks, but they’ll save at the pump under tough new federal rules aimed at boosting mileage, cutting emissions and hastening the next generation of fuel-stingy hybrids and electric cars.

The new standards, announced Thursday, call for a 35.5 miles-per-gallon average within six years, up nearly 10 mpg from now.

Pretty soon there will be set guidelines for taking a dump.

23,000 steps backward, 6,000 steps forward. PROGRESS!

Private employers unexpectedly shed jobs in March, dampening hopes about the strength of the recovery two days before the more closely watched government payrolls report.

In addition, U.S. Midwest business activity expanded less than expected in March while a gauge of New York City business conditions fell, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

U.S. private employers cut 23,000 jobs in March, missing expectations for an increase in jobs, but the decline was slightly less than the losses in February, according to the data by a payroll processing company.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the recovering economy moves closer to generating more jobs.

The Labor Department said Thursday that new jobless benefit claims dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, nearly matching analysts’ estimates. It’s the fourth drop in five weeks.

If you were one of the 6,000 people, or the 1.9 people out of every 100,000 who found work this month, CONGRATULATIONS!

Lowe’s Cos. CEO Robert A. Niblock received compensation valued at $11.7 million in 2009 from the nation’s No. 2 home-improvement retailer, up 3 percent from 2008.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, Lowe’s reported that Niblock, 47, who is also chairman, received a salary of $1.1 million, the same as in 2008, and a performance-based bonus of $2.8 million, up from $1.5 million in 2008.

He received other compensation worth $204,515, including $30,297 for personal use of the company’s corporate aircraft and a $6,816 contribution to Niblock’s 401(k) plan.

The bulk of his award came as stock options and grants valued at $7.5 million the date they were granted.

I can hear the socialist in the White House screaming already. That’s just not fair.

Does anyone really believe that Kroger has more to offer than Wal-Mart? Seriously?

Kroger Co.’s CEO said Tuesday the grocer has more weapons than price to deploy in the fight for recession-pinched shoppers.

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has signaled it plans to cut more prices as it and other stores try to rebound from slow or falling grocery sales. In their search for lower prices, some shoppers have shifted to warehouse clubs and dollar stores, and Wal-Mart wants to woo them — along with shoppers from standard supermarkets.

Better assortment? Puh-leaze