ROAD SIGNS

International air traffic drooped 3.5 percent last year, the largest decline since 1945.

Business Insider - Poverty grew at twice the rate of U.S. population growth from 2000 - 2008, and now encompasses 39.1 million Americans. If one were to expand the definition of poverty to merely 'poor' (yet still very poor), then a eye-popping 30% of the nation lives no higher than twice the poverty base line. . . . If you break down the data to individual areas, then there's at least ten U.S. cities with poverty rates of around 30%. . . . This [Brookings] research doesn't include 2009 since full data hasn't come out yet.

USA Today - Average college endowment returns plummeted 18.7% last year, the worst decline for higher education since the Great Depression, a report says. Overall, higher education endowments fared better than other indexes; the widely used S&P 500 was down 26.2% over the same period, the 12 months ending last June 30. And, the report notes, the economic forecast has improved for 2010.