Economy News

WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday shut banks in Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington, lifting to 108 the number of U.S. banks to fail this year as the industry has struggled to cope with mounting loan defaults and recession. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US economic growth slowed dramatically in the second quarter, the government has said, stoking fears that the recovery is losing steam and fueling a fierce political debate over how to respond. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The House approved a bill Friday to boost safety standards for offshore drilling, remove a federal cap on economic liability for oil spills and impose new fees on oil and gas production. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Bernanke's 2009 financial disclosure shows that he mostly left his money where it has been: in no-frills annuities, U.S. Treasury securities and mutual funds. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's personal finances recovered in 2009, disclosure forms released by the central bank on Friday showed. Full Story »

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Fifteen months after a deal to lease Midway Airport to private operators fizzled out in a poor economy, the city of Chicago continues to keep its options for a future lease deal open. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth slowed in the second quarter as companies invested heavily in equipment from abroad and the pace of consumer spending eased, raising concerns about the recovery in the rest of 2010. Full Story »

DETROIT - A year after the government's big auto-industry bailouts, President Barack Obama on Friday trumpeted increased car sales and progress on battery-powered vehicles as a beacon of success in his administration's battle to revive a hurting U.S. economy. But his upbeat assessment can't mask daunting challenges for U.S. automakers and painfully high unemployment. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - Mexico's aviation safety rating was downgraded Friday due to concerns about the country's safety oversight, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The economy is still growing, just not by much. And until that changes, don't look for the jobs to come back. Full Story »

DETROIT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he welcomed news that the U.S. economy grew by 2.4 percent in the second quarter, but said more work was needed to increase that growth rate and generate jobs. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Weakening U.S. economic growth and worried comments from Federal Reserve officials drove the dollar to an 8-month low Friday against the Japanese yen. Full Story »

Energy prices settled higher on a day of uneven trading after the government said the economic recovery slowed during the second quarter as consumers conserved their money. Full Story »

RECOVERY LOSES SPEED: The economy grew at a 2.4 percent pace this spring, its most sluggish showing in nearly a year. Growth is probably even slower now, economists said. Full Story »

A look at the government's revisions to gross domestic product on a quarterly basis. GDP measures the value of all goods and services made in the United States. It is the best gauge of the nation's economic health. The first number is the new estimate of GDP growth, the second number the old estimate. Full Story »

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) - President Barack Obama took to the wheel of a new electric car Friday on a Detroit-area tour of the revitalized auto industry, touting his economic policies but urging the need to do more. Full Story »

NEW YORK - FedEx Corp. is reversing one of the uglier corporate trends of the recession: Starting in January, it will restore matching contributions to its employees' 401(k) plans. For some workers, that means retiring with tens of thousands more dollars socked away. Full Story »

Power companies have struggled since the recession with soft demand, particularly from the industrial sector, where they have some of their biggest customers. American Electric Power Inc.'s chairman and CEO, Michael Morris, said demand from those clients was up during the second quarter. Credit Suisse analyst Daniel Eggers wanted to know if it's a trend that has legs. Full Story »