AP - SURPRISING DROP: The June trade deficit declined by 4.1 percent to $56.8 billion, the lowest level in three months and a surprise to economists who were predicting the deficit would widen. -- read full article
AP - The U.S. trade deficit has gone on a diet, helped by strong exports of farm products and manufactured goods and by Americans spending less as the economy limps along.
AP - Japan's economy shrank in the second quarter, the government said Wednesday, as slowing exports and waning consumer demand pushed the world's No. 2 economy to the brink of recession. -- read full article
AP - The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly fell in June as exports advanced to an all-time high, offsetting another big surge in oil imports. -- read full article
AP - Farmers are on pace to produce the second largest corn crop and fourth largest soybean crop in history, which may lead to lower prices for the key grains, the government said Tuesday. -- read full article
AP - The government says the federal budget deficit soared in July, pushed higher by economic stimulus payments and $15 billion in outlays to protect depositors at failed banks. -- read full article
AP - More banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages and other consumer and business loans as a deepening credit crisis exerts a heavier toll on the economy.
AP - China's politically volatile consumer inflation rate eased in July, but prices rose by a still-high 6.3 percent over the same month last year, a government news agency reported Tuesday. -- read full article
AP - More banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages and other consumer and business loans as a deepening credit crisis exerts a heavier toll on the economy.
AP - The efficiency of America's workers grew at a slightly slower pace in the spring as companies sought to produce more with leaner work forces. Workers' compensation growth slowed, too.
AP - Consumers — fortified by the government's rebate checks — boosted their borrowing in June at the fastest pace in seven months. -- read full article
AP - The nation's jobs market sent a fresh cry of distress as the number of newly laid off people unexpectedly hit the highest level in more than six years, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.
AP - Venezuela's annual inflation climbed to 33.7 percent in July in metropolitan Caracas, but slowed its pace as price controls on food were eased and supply increased, the Central Bank said Thursday. -- read full article
