For 2008, one big story with countless angles

4) Unemployment skyrocketing: The crisis has cost nearly 2 million jobs and sent the unemployment rate soaring to 6.7 percent, a 15-year high. While many of the job cuts have come in hard-hit sectors like construction, financial services and the auto industry, the job losses have spread to other fields such as restaurants, retailers and casinos. Economists expect the jobless rate to keep rising, with many expecting it to hit or exceed 9 percent next year.

5) Dow plummeting: Investors have panicked, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 5,000 points from its peak in October 2007. As the crisis worsened in the fall, stocks plunged 25 percent in a matter of weeks. The topsy-turvy market endured many days of triple-digit losses, only to swoop back up in fevered, short-lived rallies. Investment portfolios have been decimated, forcing many Americans to put off or drastically rethink retirement plans.

6) Gas prices yo-yoing: In midsummer it looked like the big story of the year was going to be the skyrocketing price of oil, which pushed U.S. gas prices to record levels, well over $4 a gallon. Surging oil prices sparked a surge of interest in fuel-efficient cars and alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power.

Paul Sakuma / AP file Gas reached -- and surpassed -- $4 a gallon over the summer before plumetting to well under $2 by December.

But as the global economy weakened, the price of oil plunged. By mid-December gas was well under $2 a gallon in most places, offering some relief to Americans struggling to pay bills. Still, the steep drop in prices is adding to fears of a potentially dangerous bout of deflation, or broadly falling prices.

7) Real estate meltdown: The foreclosure epidemic has devastated families as well as banking institutions. Countless workers who depended on the once-hot housing industry — including builders, Realtors, plumbers and electricians — face the loss of their jobs or income.

Even many of the most responsible homeowners who used conservative financing have been sucked into the housing crisis as home values have fallen sharply and sales activity has dried up. Stricter lending standards are making it harder for first-time homeowners to purchase a home, even if they are willing to take a bet that home prices have stabilized.

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