AP - Japan's economy showed new signs of deterioration Friday, with the country's unemployment rate rising and consumers tightening their purse strings amid soaring food and oil prices, the government said.

Reuters - Defaults on privately insured mortgages rose sharply in April, showing homeowners continue to struggle to keep up with loan payments.

Reuters - Dell Inc , the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, said on Friday sales outside the United States were growing much faster than its home market and could account for two-thirds of total revenues within five years.

Reuters - United Airlines and US Airways have suspended merger talks due to concerns about labor opposition and integration costs, while United draws closer to an alliance with Continental Airlines, a source close to the talks said late on Thursday.

Reuters - A U.S. regulatory probe into potential oil-market trading abuses is focusing on possible short-term manipulation of benchmark crude prices and the use of information related to important oil storage tanks to influence prices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co is preparing to fire U.S. salaried employees over the next two months due to the sudden downturn in auto sales, a drastic step it has so far avoided during its 2-1/2-year restructuring.

Reuters - U.S. stocks could be close to an "important bottom" as moves by the central bank and the government to spur the economy are likely to work, the manager of Fidelity Investments' best-known Magellan fund said.

Reuters - Stocks rallied on Thursday as a $4 drop in oil soothed inflation fears, while an upward revision in a broad measure of U.S. economic growth suggested a recession may be avoided.

Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters)- The economy grew a bit faster than first thought in the first quarter as demand for foreign goods fell and commercial building picked up, adding to evidence that the United States may stave off recession.

Reuters - New York City's financial sector might only slice 15,000 to 25,000 jobs in the current downturn, which could prove shorter than the mayor has predicted, the city comptroller said on Thursday.

Reuters - General Motors Corp said on Thursday about 19,000 U.S. factory workers -- just over a quarter of its American blue-collar work force -- had taken buyouts to leave the automaker.

AP - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket items besides autos and airplanes showed surprising strength in April, raising hopes that manufacturing can help the economy shake off the slumping housing market and credit crisis.