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• Eurozone Economic Sentiment Rises Again in July
  Economic sentiment in the 16 countries that use the euro is at its highest level for over two years, the European Commission said Thursday.In its monthly survey, the Commission said its sentiment indicator for the eurozone rose to 101.3 points in July from 99 in June. Most...
• Durable Goods Orders Fall as Recovery Stalls
  Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell broadly in June as the fragile recovery continued to slow. Demand for durable goods dropped 1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $190.5 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the...
• Unemployment Rises in 75 Percent of Metro Areas
  The unemployment rate in about three-quarters of the nation's largest metro areas rose last month as nearly one million teenagers entered the work force looking for summer jobs. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the unemployment rate rose in 291 of 374 areas in June...
• Weak Durable Goods Reignite Double-Dip Fears
  New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods unexpectedly fell for a second straight month in June, posting their largest decline since August, further evidence economic growth cooled in the second quarter. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday durable goods...
• Economic Woes Erode Election Hope for Democrats
  
  Americans by a large majority believe President Barack Obama has not focused enough on job creation, as economic fears threaten Democrats ahead of November 2 congressional elections, a recent Reuters-Ipsos poll found. In a sign of trouble ahead for the Democrats, the poll...
• Bank of England Chief Says Stimulus Still Needed
  The governor of the Bank of England said Wednesday that the need to stimulate the economy still takes precedence over concerns about high inflation at a time when the outlook for the global economy remains uncertain.Governor Mervyn King told Parliament's Treasury Committee...
• Housing Recovery Is About Timing and Location
  If you bought a home in San Francisco in the past year, it might feel like the housing slump is over. Bay area home prices have shot up 18 percent in the past year.But someone next door who bought in 2006 may have suffered a 35 percent loss in value. And if you're a Las...
• IMF: China Currency Undervalued but Policy Sound
  The International Monetary Fund said China's yuan is undervalued in a mildly worded assessment Wednesday of its controversial currency controls and praised Beijing's response to the global crisis.The comments came in a review by the Washington-based fund of Chinese economic...
• Mortgage Demand Dips on Rising Rates
  U.S. home loan demand cooled last week as rising mortgage rates curbed refinancing requests that had soared to a 14-month high, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. Loan requests to buy homes rose for the second straight week to the highest level since the...
• Cities May Cut More Jobs, Boosting Unemployment
  Local government revenue has dwindled so severely that U.S. cities and counties will have to cut hundreds of thousands of jobs in the coming months, leaving communities without basic services and pressuring jobless rates, according to a new survey. The survey, released on...
• Confidence Falls Even as Corporate Profits Rise
  The disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street is growing.Americans' confidence in the economy faded further in July, according to a monthly survey released Tuesday, amid job worries and skimpy wage growth. That's at odds with Wall Street's recent rally fueled by upbeat...
• Treasuries Rally After Strong Five-Year Note Auction
  
  Middle-maturity U.S Treasury debt prices gained on Wednesday, while the 30-year bond edged higher, following a strongly bid auction of five-year notes. Traders hailed the sale of $37 billion of five-year notes as a success after the high yield in the auction was lower than...
• Confidence Hits Five-Month Low on Job Fears
  Americans' confidence in the economy eroded further in July amid worries about a job market that has proven stubbornly stagnant. The report raised concerns about the overall economy and the back-to-school season. The Conference Board, a private research group, said Tuesday...
• Treasuries Head Lower Despite Good Auction
  An auction of two-year US government debt went well Tuesday, with investors diving into the short end of the yield curve even as supply continues to roll into the market. The solid auction of $38 billion in two-years came on an otherwise dreary day for Treasuries in which...
• World Cup Lifts German Consumer Confidence
  
  German consumer confidence is up strongly, boosted by expectations that a quicker economic recovery will keep unemployment in check and by cheer over the football World Cup and sunny weather, a survey showed Tuesday.Germany's GfK institute said its forward-looking overall...
• Gasoline Pump Prices Rise Across the Country
  
  Drivers across the country woke up to higher prices at the gas pump as retail gasoline rose overnight.The average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gained half a cent Monday from Sunday at $2.742, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.In its...
• Home Prices Rise Without Sustained Recovery
  U.S. single-family home prices rose more than expected in May, reflecting robust spring sales spurred by homebuyer tax credits, Standard Poor's/Case Shiller home price indexes showed Tuesday. May is a strong seasonal period for home sales, S P said, and buyers who rushed...
• State Budget Gaps Linger as Tax Revenue Rises
  
  State tax revenue is improving, but only slightly, and may not be enough to end steep spending cuts or replace the loss of assistance from the federal stimulus plan that expires in December, according to a report on Tuesday. The National Conference of State Legislatures...
• India Hikes Key Interest Rates More Than Expected
  India's central bank hiked key interest rates more than expected Tuesday to combat rising prices and raised its growth and inflation forecasts for the year. The Reserve Bank of India hiked the repo rate at which the central bank makes short-term loans to commercial banks...
• Home Prices Won't Rebound Any Time Soon
  Thought the housing crisis was over? Not quite. Despite four years of falling prices and recent signs that they were finally bottoming out, homes are expected to lose still more value in many metro areas over the next year. Parts of the country already pummeled by the...
• Business Borrowing Rebounds Cautiously
  A key measure of U.S. business borrowing continued to show modest signs of improvement in June, a lender group told Reuters on Monday, as companies increased investment in their operations and did a better job of staying current on existing debts. But the Equipment Leasing...
• Japan's Exports Climb for Seventh Straight Month
  Japan's exports rose for the seventh straight month in June, driven by machinery and steel products, indicating that overseas demand continues to underpin recovery in the world's No. 2 economy even amid a stronger yen. Exports climbed 27.7 percent from a year earlier to...
• New Home Sales Surge but Sales Still Sluggish
  Sales of new homes jumped last month, but it was the second-weakest month on record. The lackluster economy has made potential buyers skittish about shopping for homes. New home sales rose nearly 24 percent in June from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales...
• Russia Plans $29 Billion Asset Sale
  Russia plans its biggest sell-off of state assets since the early 1990s as it seeks to raise over $29 billion to plug budget gaps over the next three years, finance ministry sources told Reuters on Saturday. The sources told Reuters the plan to sell minority stakes in 10...
• White House Admits Recovery Is Slowing
  The Obama administration warned on Friday the U.S. economy had encountered strong headwinds and the country's fiscal challenge remained grim, but it lowered an estimate for the budget deficit this year. Outlining the country's fiscal path over the next decade, the White...

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