Reuters - The U.S. unemployment rate hit its highest in four years during July as employers cut jobs for a seventh straight month, though less severely than predicted, a Labor Department report showed on Friday.

AP - Stores, factories and other businesses large and small showed workers the door last month, sending unemployment to its highest rate in four years and adding to the evidence an economic recovery remains far off.

Reuters - U.S. auto sales plunged to a 16-year-low in July, led by a 27 percent drop at General Motors Corp , as high gas prices and tight credit sent the industry into a tailspin.

Reuters - California's battered homes market may be hitting bottom, suggesting a national housing recovery may follow, veteran banking analyst Charles Peabody said on Friday, citing a rebound in home sales as renters become owners.

Reuters - British Airways's profit collapsed in the first quarter as high oil prices, an economic slowdown and weak consumer confidence combined in what the airline called the worst trading conditions it had ever experienced.

Reuters - It really is the economy, stupid! Economic models that have correctly predicted the winner of almost all post-war U.S. presidential elections say recession fears will secure a victory for Barack Obama in November.

Reuters - The U.S. unemployment rate hit its highest level in four years during July as employers cut jobs for a seventh straight month, though less severely than predicted, a Labor Department report showed on Friday.

Reuters - U.S. factory activity held up to stand unchanged in July from June, managing to defy forecasts of a contraction and showing inflation pressures moderating, according to a report released on Friday.