AFP - Inflation, and not the credit crunch, is the biggest economic concern worldwide, especially in developing countries, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview Thursday.

AP - The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

AP - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday inflation was becoming the top economic focus of many countries around the world as oil and food prices take their toll.

Reuters - A weaker dollar cannot be blamed for soaring oil prices as policymakers around the world tussle with the twin specters of rising inflation and slowing growth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday.

AFP - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said here on Thursday that the US economy would most likely be stronger at the end of 2008, even as oil prices surged to new records above 146 dollars.

Reuters - U.S. employers cut workers from their payrolls for the sixth straight month in June for the country's longest losing streak since 2002, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, government data on Thursday showed.

AP - Wall Street capped a shortened trading week with a mixed finish Thursday after some uneven economic data: news of a contraction in the nation's services sector and a tame reading on employment.

Reuters - Tired of pumping his cash right back into his gas tank, New York City taxi driver Mohammed Kalair says he is considering quitting his job and going back to his native Pakistan.

Reuters - U.S. employers cut workers for a sixth straight month in June for the longest such streak since 2002 and vast service sector unexpectedly contracted, underscoring the economy's frailty.

AP - Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent.

Reuters - The Dow sank into a bear market on Wednesday as U.S. stocks fell on growing concerns about the toll that record oil prices are taking on the economy and corporate profits.

AP - Wall Street resumed its sell-off Wednesday after oil hit a new record and a bearish analyst report renewed concerns that General Motors Corp. could run out of cash.