Recession

Attendance at the National Aquarium's Inner Harbor and Washington venues rose 2.4 percent last year, the first increase since the recession, thanks to an improving economy and a more interactive aquarium experience, CEO John Racanelli said. The attraction drew 1.55 million people last year, including 1.34 million at the Inner Harbor destination, marking the first increase since 2006. During an interview Wednesday at The Baltimore Sun, Racanelli said the more than 30-year-old aquarium is repositioning itself to not only offer entertainment, but also to advocate for cleaner, healthier oceans.

Maryland gained about 22,000 jobs in 2012, the smallest annual increase since the recession, underscoring the challenges facing the state in a year dominated by the federal budget and the collapse of a major employer. U.S. Department of Labor estimates released Friday show a volatile year in which the state move back and forth between job expansion and loss, ending with a gain in December. The preliminary figures suggest that the major culprit was government, which shed 8,500 jobs — the first time in nearly a decade that the usually reliable sector turned in an annual loss.

From Liz Atwood: When kids start middle school, they notice one thing right away: There is no recess. They have gym class, but unstructured playtime is left behind in elementary school. But a new statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents and teachers to recognize the importance of recess for children and adolescents. The doctors say kids need a break from the academics and physical education classes cannot compensate for the freedom of recess. They go on to say that recess should never be taken away as punishment.

Baltimore's economic performance over the last year ranks it 179th among the 300 largest metropolitan economies worldwide, according to a new report that describes the region as "partially recovered" from the last recession. The Brookings Institution's Global MetroMonitor study, to be released today, looked at growth in employment and gross domestic product in metro areas internationally. Only two of the country's large metro areas cracked the top 50 - Houston and San Jose - and just three (Dallas, Knoxville and Pittsburgh)

The White House is breathing a bit easier. The president's awful debate performance was bad enough. If it had been followed by a bad jobs report, the president's chances for re-election might have plummeted. But the report showed September's unemployment rate dropping to 7.8 percent -- the first time it's been under 8 percent in 43 months. Look more closely, though, and the employment picture is murkier. According to the separate payroll survey, just 114,000 new jobs were added in September.

The threat of automatic spending cuts by the federal government caused companies to press the pause button on real estate expansion in the Baltimore region during the third quarter, according to analysts. "It reflects the nature of the economic drivers in the region," said Robert Manekin, managing director of Colliers International's Baltimore office. Federal agencies and contractors make up a large percentage of office tenants throughout Central Maryland, and uncertainty about the national budget has caused them to be more cautious about leasing new space, he said.

Your recent commentary on information technology is yet another slant on the increased need for education to work our way out of the current economic recession ("Tech to the rescue," Aug. 27). I will go along with an increased need for IT personnel, even if IT seems to cover a multitude of job descriptions of varying skill levels. According to this your article, only 30 percent to 45 percent of high school graduates are ready to take college level math and science courses, yet that might be enough to supply all the graduates the country needs.

Cargo handling at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore reached pre-recession levels for the first half of 2012, continuing a two-year surge in traffic, state officials announced Thursday. On the strength of roll-on/roll-off, vehicle and container business, a record 4.83 million tons of general cargo passed through the public terminals, besting the old mark of 4.69 million tons set in the first six months of 2008. The 2012 total is also 10 percent ahead of 2011 figures. The record traffic this year "proves that one of Maryland's main economic engines has fully bounced back from one of the most challenging economic periods in our country's history," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in a statement.

I know we have become a nation of such short attention spans and long-term addiction to instant gratification that asking viewers to spend even an hour with a documentary that could change the way they see the world is probably a fool's errand. But this fool is asking -- no begging -- you to see "Hard Times: Lost on Long Island," an HBO documentary premiering at 9 Monday night and repeating throughout the month on HBO and HBO2. I have not seen anything on-air, online or in print that so deftly nails one of the most important and least reported stories of our economic and political lives in this presidential election year.

Baltimore residential real estate broker Bonnie Fleck is no stranger to luxury. "I think it might be because my very first car was an Audi," Fleck said when asked why she chooses luxury cars instead of more utilitarian models. She also wants to give clients a comfortable ride as they drive from home to home, so she leases a new high-end car every few years. On Thursday, she picked up a black sedan at Lexus of Towson, which sold 208 vehicles last month — 60 more than May 2011, said Mike Meagher, the dealership's general manager.