WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is losing strength and repeated a pledge to take further steps to boost growth if hiring remains weak. The Fed took no new action after a two-day policy meeting. But it acknowledged in a statement released after the meeting that economic activity had […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have lost a bid in the Republican-controlled House to increase taxes on high-income earners and on people who inherit million dollar-plus estates. The Democratic plan, which was backed by President Barack Obama, fell to Republicans who insisted that a full package of Bush-era tax cuts be renewed when they expire at […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed a yearlong extension of tax cuts for all but the highest-earning Americans through the Senate on Wednesday, giving Democrats a significant political victory on a measure that is fated to go no further in Congress. Senators approved the Democratic bill by a near party-line 51-48 vote, with Vice President Joe […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The election-season battle in Congress over tax cuts set to expire in January has focused on Democratic demands to let taxes rise for the highest-earning Americans, and Republicans' insistence that the wealthy be protected from higher levies. But there is a consensus between the two parties that for 2013, most people should […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net. Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 1.5 million older Americans already have lost their homes, with millions more at risk as the national housing crisis takes its toll on those who are among the worst positioned to weather the storm, a new AARP report says. Older African Americans and Hispanics are the hardest hit. "The Great […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Rising tensions in the Middle East have pushed oil prices up 19 percent over the past three weeks and are leading to a rise in prices at the gasoline pump. Since the start of July, average gasoline prices in the U.S. have climbed 11 cents to $3.44 per gallon. Pump prices […]
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The economies of the nation's cities are starting to bounce back from the recession and grow again, but the state and federal governments need to increase their spending on infrastructure to help that growth continue, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which released an economic report Thursday. The report, prepared by […]
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says he has imposed new union contracts aimed at saving the cash-strapped city more than $100 million annually. Bing says in a statement that Wednesday is a "tough" but "necessary" day for Detroit and that the city no longer can operate in excess of its expenses. The new […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats seized on a new report estimating that automatic budget cuts will cost the economy 2 million jobs to level election-year charges that underscored the deep political divide over how to avert the looming crisis. Roughly five months until the across-the-board reductions kick in, the Aerospace Industries Association unveiled a […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is still struggling three years after the recession ended. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. The economy added an average of just 75,000 jobs a month […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is trying again to jolt an economy that's being held back by a weakened job market. To spur borrowing and spending, it's extending a program designed to lower long-term U.S. interest rates. At the end of a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the Fed also sharply reduced its forecast for […]
