AP - Just when motorists were starting to adjust to exorbitant gas prices, they face the prospect of much higher costs, fewer choices and a dearth of financing options if they want to lease their next car.

Reuters - Barack Obama proposed on Monday tapping the strategic oil reserve to help lower gas prices, a reversal of an earlier stance, and called rival John McCain a tool of big oil companies as rising energy costs took center stage in the U.S. presidential campaign.

AP - Consumer spending, after adjusting for inflation, fell in June as shoppers were hit with the second biggest increase in prices in nearly three decades.

AFP - Some Americans are finding that while high oil prices leave them with a slimmer wallet, it could also leave them with slimmer waists as they forsake their cars and take to their bikes, public transportation or feet to get around.

AP - High gas prices almost killed the lifeline to the city for a group of mountain commuters.

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.