Reuters - Business activity in New York City grew in May for the first time in four months, helped in part by easing worry over credit conditions, according to an industry report released on Friday.

AP - Retail gas prices jumped a cent Friday to a new national average over $3.96 a gallon, putting them on a course to hit $4 by early next week. Oil futures, meanwhile, traded in a narrow range as investors tried to determine whether recent price declines were temporary.

Reuters - U.S. consumer confidence fell to a 28-year low in May, a survey showed on Friday, as soaring prices for food and fuel soured sentiment and pushed long-term inflation expectations to the highest in more than a decade.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Friday he has some problems with the housing rescue plan under consideration in the U.S. Senate, but will work to craft a bill that President George W. Bush can sign.

AP - The first round of economic stimulus checks gave a boost to personal incomes in April but a huge question remains: Will people spend the checks quickly enough to keep the economy afloat?

AFP - The US economy grew at an annual 0.9 percent pace in the first quarter of the year, the government said Thursday in an upward revision that calmed the nerves of some economists.

Reuters - Oil prices dropped $4 on Thursday as concerns about global energy demand and strength in the dollar countered a government report showing the biggest decline in U.S. stockpiles since 2004.

AP - Oil prices fell sharply Thursday after the Energy Department reported unexpected declines in crude oil supplies last week but said the drop was due to temporary delays in unloading oil tankers along the Gulf Coast.

Reuters - Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday as a swift 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.

AP - Stocks rose for the third straight session Thursday as oil prices fell sharply and the government reported that the economy grew last quarter at a faster pace than previously estimated.

Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters)- The U.S. 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.