The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid barely changed last week, while the average over the past month fell to a fresh five-year low. The decline in layoffs is helping strengthen the job market. Weekly unemployment benefit applications rose ...

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WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon held back showing federal regulators reports in May that revealed the bank had accumulated billions of dollars in trading losses, according to congressional testimony Friday from the firm’s former chief financial officer. Douglas ...

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WASHINGTON — The No. 2 official at the Federal Reserve said Monday that she does not see any risks at the moment from the Federal Reserve’s low-interest rate policies that would prompt her to urge that the policies be curtailed. ...

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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says stock prices have gotten a boost from low interest rates caused by the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts. The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. addressed a variety of topics during an interview on CNBC ...

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WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices were flat last month, the latest sign inflation is in check. That could give the Federal Reserve leeway to continue its efforts to stimulate growth. The consumer price index has risen 1.6 percent in the ...

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WASHINGTON — U.S. homebuilders began work at a slower pace in January than in December. But all of the drop occurred in the volatile area of apartment construction, which sank 24 percent. By contrast, the rate of single-family homebuilding rose 0.8 ...

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WASHINGTON — U.S. factories slowed production in January after two solid months of cranking out goods. The weakness mainly reflected a big drop in output at auto factories that is likely temporary. Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in January from ...

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy “paused” in recent months because of temporary factors and reaffirmed its commitment to try to stimulate growth by keeping borrowing cheap for the foreseeable future. The Fed took no ...

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NEW YORK — Economists are increasingly, but still cautiously, optimistic about growth in the year ahead with the hiring expected to pick up in coming months. A quarterly survey by the National Association for Business Economists released Monday shows half ...

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The Maryland Association of Counties is trying to change the way the personal property tax — the levy that businesses pay on items such as furniture and carpeting — is calculated.

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