U.S.

Employers added 132,000 jobs in June and payrolls rose more strongly than previously thought in April and May, according to a Labor Department report that underlined a strengthening job market.

As Europe's workers take a few weeks of holiday this summer, their American colleagues will be lucky to get a few days off work, says a report published by the European Trade Union Institute.

A deal could be off, as the U.S. stepped up criticism of India and Brazil over failed talks

The United States and South Korea signed a free trade agreement on Saturday that will face tough opposition in the U.S. Congress because of Democratic Party concerns that it will cost auto industry jobs.

Trade and travel problems along the U.S-Canadian border remain a serious aggravation for the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada's ambassador to Washington said on Monday.

Japanese and U.S. experts will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss technical issues relating to American beef trade, Japan's Farm Ministry said in a news release on Monday.

U.S. officials said India and Brazil were to blame for the breakdown on Thursday of trade talks that some were billing as a final chance to spur the Doha round toward completion.

The nations will review labor and environmental standards in a deal struck earlier in the year.

U.S. businesses painted dramatically different portraits of a new trade deal with South Korea on Wednesday, some touting lucrative sales opportunities and others charging the Bush administration had brought home an abominable deal for U.S. workers.

South Korea said on Sunday that the United States had proposed some revisions to a free trade agreement between the two countries, in areas including labor rights, environment and investment.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world's largest memory chip maker, said it would invest $3.5 billion in its 10-year-old U.S. chip plant by 2008 to produce flash memory chips.

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Friday, with technology shares likely to underpin gains after a broker upgrade of Intel Corp. , but investors were cautious ahead of key inflation data.

Volkswagen's Audi premium unit aims to raise sales in the United States to 200,000 vehicles by 2015 from last year's 90,000, Audi's sales and marketing boss told a German newspaper.

US Airways Group may reach a decision this month on whether to proceed with an order for 20 Airbus wide-body planes or switch to Boeing Co. aircraft, the carrier's chief financial officer said on Wednesday

Sales by retailers rebounded by a stronger-than-expected 1.4 percent in May as consumers shrugged off higher gasoline prices and increased spending on cars, clothing and building materials, a Commerce Department report showed on Wednesday.

Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) said Monday that it would end the use of artery clogging trans fats in food and beverages in the continental U.S., Alaska and Canada by the end of 2007.

Shares of U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) rose moderately and Lone Star Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: LSS) rocketed Thursday, after an announcement by U.S. Steel that it had agreed to buy Lone Star.

Tesco topped analysts' average forecast with a 12.5 percent rise in underlying first half profit on Tuesday and said its plans to expand in non food and the United States were on track.

Most forms of Internet gambling would be banned under a bill that received final U.S. congressional approval early Saturday.

Lumber prices have lost a third of their value since January amid a cooling U.S. housing sector, and a softwood trade deal between the United States and Canada won't stem the slide soon because implementation may be delayed.

A cooling housing market helped slow US economic growth in the second quarter more than earlier estimated, the government reported on Thursday, and may curb expansion for the rest of the year.