The U.S. Department of Labor is trying some new strategies to fight the 20 percent unemployment rate for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. One strategy made its national debut in Washington D.C. yesterday.

Seventy-five women registered for the event — and the Department of Labor says the summit will be duplicated around the country if more than half the women here find jobs.

(WAMU.org News )

The Obama administration launches another program to attack the foreclosure crisis, by spending TARP funds from the emergency bailout program for the financial system, and requiring lenders to slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for the unemployed for between 3-6 months..

Economist Mark Zandi estimates it would be a significant boost to the US economy.

Banks and other lenders would have to reduce the payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower’s income, which would typically be the amount of unemployment insurance, for three to six months. In some cases, administration officials said, a lender could allow a borrower to skip payments altogether.

(READ the good news for unemployed homeowners in the Washington Post)

More than 170,000 troubled homeowners are breathing a lasting sigh of relief now that they’ve received permanent modifications under the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program.

The number of people receiving permanent help has been steadily rising as the administration increases the pressure on mortgage servicers to make decisions on those in the trial phase.

(READ the story at CNN.money)

The World Bank on Thursday approved a record $1.05 billion line of credit to help get more children into schools in India, the largest ever investment in education by the poverty-fighting institution.

Since that program’s launch in 2002, school enrollments have increased significantly.

(READ the story in Reuters)