Reuters - G8 leaders aim to present a united front against global inflation, driven by soaring oil and food prices, at a summit in Japan next week, but solving the problem requires more than just a strong message from rich nations.

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 - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

Reuters - Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said on Friday he was confident about the United States' economic fundamentals in the long term despite a current rough patch and was quite optimistic 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.

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. But stocks still had their third dismal week in a row, with the major indexes again posting losses as worries about rising oil prices and the fallout from the credit crisis dogged the market.

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

AP - Wall Street companies sharply scaled back their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week while commercial banks boosted it slightly.

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.