NEW YORK — Americans are feeling worse about the economy than they have in a long time — a fact that could have wide-reaching implications everywhere from Wal-Mart to the White House. Despite improving U.S. job and housing markets, consumer ...

Tagged with: americans consumer confidence consumer confidence index consumer spending earnings Economy election employers home prices job market jobs standard & poor's/case-shiller home-price index Unemployment

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 35,000 last week, a figure that may have been distorted by seasonal factors. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications fell to a seasonally adjusted 353,000. That’s down ...

Tagged with: application auto industry Economy employees employers housing market job market jobs Labor Department layoffs retail sales Unemployment unemployment benefits

WASHINGTON — Americans bought fewer new homes in June after sales jumped to a two-year high in May. The steep decline suggests a weaker job market and slower growth could make the housing recovery uneven. The Commerce Department said Wednesday ...

Tagged with: commerce department Economy growth inventories job market jobs new-home sales previously occupied homes

WASHINGTON — Americans bought fewer homes in June than May, indicating the weak economy could make a modest housing recovery choppy. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.4 percent in June to ...

Tagged with: builders construction Economy first-time buyers home sales homes housing market job market National Association of Realtors previously occupied homes prices

WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale prices rose only slightly last month, as higher costs for food and pickup trucks offset another drop in energy prices. But overall inflation stayed mild, leaving the Federal Reserve room to take steps to boost the ...

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WASHINGTON — Americans put more on their credit cards in May than in any single month since November 2007, one month before the Great Recession began. But overall credit card use is still well below where it was just before ...

Tagged with: auto loans borrowing consumer confidence credit cards Economy federal reserve job market Retail student loans

WASHINGTON — The American job machine has jammed. Again. The economy added only 80,000 jobs in June, the government said Friday, erasing any doubt that the United States is in a summer slump for the third year in a row. ...

Tagged with: Ben Bernanke China consumers Economy employees employers European Central Bank federal reserve hiring interest rates job market jobs Labor Department mitt romney Stocks Unemployment unemployment rate wages

WASHINGTON — Faced with a fizzling job market, many economists have turned more pessimistic and no longer think U.S. economic growth will accelerate later this year. Friday’s surprisingly bleak jobs report for May followed a spate of weak U.S. economic ...

Tagged with: data Economy job market recovery united states

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a five-week high, evidence that the job market remains sluggish. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted ...

Tagged with: application building permits consumer confidence economists Economy employees employers hiring homes housing job market jobs Labor Department Unemployment unemployment benefits

WASHINGTON — A gauge of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes fell in April from nearly a two-year high in the previous month. The decline was the biggest in a year. Still, sales are well ahead of last year’s ...

Tagged with: americans contracts Economy home prices homes housing market interest rates job market jobs mortgage rates National Association of Realtors sales sales agreements Unemployment