Economy News

Graphic charts monthly unemployment rate for the past 13 months; 1c x 3 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 88.9 mm

Jobless claims drop from 7-year high

AP - Thu Oct 9, 10:04 AM ET

WASHINGTON - New applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week from a seven-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, though they remain at elevated levels that indicate recession.

  • Japan's core machinery orders plunge in August AP - Wed Oct 8, 10:44 PM ET

    TOKYO - A key barometer of corporate capital spending in Japan plunged in August to its lowest level in more than five years, the government said Thursday, as business investment retreated sharply amid fears of a broader global slowdown.

  • Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion AP - Tue Oct 7, 2:45 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday.

  • Payrolls drop by most in 5 years; more pain ahead AP - Fri Oct 3, 3:21 PM ET

    THE LATEST: Employers slashed 159,000 jobs in September, the most in more than five years and the ninth month in a row of nationwide job losses. So far this year, the economy has lost a staggering 760,000 jobs.

  • The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner sits on the assembly line at the company's Everett, Washington plant, May 19, 2008. (Robert Sorbo/Reuters)
    Factory orders drop by 4 percent in August AP - Thu Oct 2, 10:38 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Orders to U.S. factories plunged by the largest amount in nearly two years in August as the credit strains began to hit manufacturing with full force.

  • Jobless claims pushed to 7-year high AP - Thu Sep 25, 10:23 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to their highest level in seven years due to the impact of a slowing economy and Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

  • Chart shows new orders of durable goods for the past 13 months;
    Durable goods orders drop 4.5 percent in August AP - Thu Sep 25, 9:15 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Orders for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in August by the largest amount in seven months as demand for both airplanes and autos fell sharply.

  • International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn (R) talks to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the International Monetary and Financial Committee meeting during the annual IMF-World Bank meeting in Washington October 11, 2008. Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa is on the left. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
    Banks, Wall Street firms borrow more from Fed AP - Thu Sep 18, 4:47 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - Banks and Wall Street firms ramped up borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, a fresh sign of the credit stresses plaguing the country.

  • In this July 15, 2008 file photo, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, to report on the economy before the Senate Banking Committee. Tighten your seat belt. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are preparing to ride out economic and financial storms by holding their most important interest rate steady this week and probably through the rest of this year. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
    Fed leaves key rate unchanged AP - Tue Sep 16, 3:39 PM ET

    WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve kept a key interest rate unchanged Tuesday, saying that strains in financial markets have "increased significantly" but that it would keep an eye on them and act, if needed.