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30 million may soon receive food stamps

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. citizens receiving food stamps could surpass 30 million this month, federal officials said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release food stamp numbers by the end of the month and wouldn't confirm the 30 million figure, which was divulged in a meeting with state officials in October, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The 30 million mark would surpass the previous high set in the months following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Post reported.

The current rise in recipients is due to rising unemployment -- currently at 6.5 percent -- and food costs, the Post said.

"If the economic forecasts come true, we're likely to see the most hunger that we've seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established," Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center in Washington, told the newspaper.

Government figures reveal that 11.9 million people, including 700,000 children, went hungry at some point in 2007, the Post said.

Some predict the next federal economic stimulus package would include increasing food stamp benefits, which generate $1.73 worth of economic activity for every $1 spent, Mark Zandi, chief economist at rating agency Moody's Economy.com, said to the Post.

Fed plan sparks home loan rate relief

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus plan delivered relief to home mortgages but its effect on other consumer loans remains unknown, industry observers said.

The Fed's $200 billion plan to boost spending inspired a drop in the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage from 5.8 percent Monday to 5.5 percent Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.

"You should see mortgage rates near or about 5 percent by early next year and that should mean smaller payments that people will have to pay on loans," Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, told the Post.

How the credit card industry will respond to the plan, expected to go into effect in February, remains unknown, consumer advocates and analysts told the Post.

While people with good credit may have an easier time getting a credit card or consumer loan, advocates and analysts said consumers with bad credit shouldn't expect any favors because more financing is available, the newspaper said.

Students seeking college loans may see more money available through private sources but analysts disagree on whether the Fed's plan will help this segment.

Peter Mazareas, vice chairman of the College Savings Foundation, a non-profit in Detroit, said he thinks the plan will make private student loans more accessible as well as lower rates.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org, said he isn't so sure.

"At face value, I don't think this is going to yield many benefits for students," he said to the Post.

Obama to tap Volcker for economic recovery

CHICAGO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will use the advisory setup he relied on during his campaign to draw on outside expert advice on key issues, aides said.

Obama is expected to announce Wednesday the creation of a president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, Politico reported.

Aides said the advisory board structure not only reflects the magnitude of the economic problems facing the United States but also allows Obama to take an integrated approach to address the financial markets, jobs, wages and housing foreclosures.

Obama would be the sixth president Volcker has served. The economic recovery board's staff director and chief economist will be Austan Goolsbee, who was senior economic adviser to the Obama campaign. Goolsbee also will be a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers when Obama takes office in January.

Other members of the board -- with pedigrees such as Eric E. Schmidt, the chairman and chief executive of Google -- will be named later.

The panel will exist for at least two years but its life could be extended, transition advisers said.

Mayor killed in North Ossetia city

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The mayor of Vladikavkaz, a city in Russia's North Caucasus region, was assassinated Wednesday near his home, law enforcement officials said.

Hospital officials said Mayor Vitaly Karayev died from a bullet wound to his heart, RIA Novosti reported.

"There was a single bullet hole in the door of his vehicle. Presumably it was a single sniper shot that proved fatal," a hospital spokesman said.

The head of the Investigation Committee at the Prosecutor General's Office in Moscow has taken the lead in the investigation and dispatched crime experts to North Ossetia to help local investigators, the Russian news agency said.

Vladikavkaz is the capital of North Ossetia, a Russian republic bordering Ingushetia and Chechnya, where shootings and bomb attacks occur frequently, The New York Times reported. Last week, the 12th person died from injuries sustained in a suicide bombing attack earlier in November outside a minibus near the city's central market.

'Black Friday' shoppers have alternatives

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Price-conscious U.S. consumers don't need to camp out at retailers in the wee hours of "Black Friday" to find holiday bargains, retailing analysts say.

The frenzied shopping ritual beginning in some cases at midnight Thanksgiving drew 66 million shoppers last year, up from 58.9 million in 2006, the National Retail Federation says. But because of the recession, suffering retailers are likely to offer deep discounts every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas, USA Today reported Wednesday.

"Black Friday is really just a focus point for consumers who think, 'This is the day I'm really going to get the best deals,'" Richard Gerstein, chief marketing officer for Sears, which also owns Kmart, told the newspaper. "We're trying to give the confidence that they can get lots of great deals not just on Black Friday but throughout the season."

With inventories high, retailers told USA Today that "Black Friday" discounts will only be the tip of the iceberg this year -- prices likely will be deeply cut throughout the four-week shopping season.

Shoppers wanting to avoid the lines will also be able to find plenty of online bargains as well, the newspaper said.