INFLATION

The American economy will begin growing again in the third quarter, but the rebound will be meek as a battered housing sector and ailing banks stem any progress in other areas, according to a Reuters poll.

China's economy will not experience a rapid recovery because it will take time to find a new growth engine to replace sagging exports, an influential economist said in remarks published on Monday.

One of Wall Street's most influential strategists said on Monday the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to ratchet back efforts to stimulate the economy soon, and that it was too early to worry about inflation choking off what would likely be a fitful recovery.

The U.S. economy looks closer now to a turning point than it did just two months ago as the Federal Reserve's aggressive policies start to kick in more solidly, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank president Charles Evans said on Monday.

The slumping factory sector in New York state shrank at a more severe rate in June than during the previous month, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Monday.

Goldman Sachs senior investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen said on Monday that risk aversion has eased, while inventory rebuilding and new business spending bode well for an economic recovery that could provide a dramatic surge in corporate profits by year end.

Goldman Sachs senior investment strategist Abby Joseph Cohen said on Monday she does not expect major announcements from a meeting of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers next week, and that market fears of inflation are spectacularly premature.

The slumping New York state factory sector shrank at a more severe rate in June than during the previous month, the New York Federal Reserve said on Monday, confounding expectations of a slight improvement.

U.S. consumer confidence rose to a nine-month high in June, a survey showed on Friday, but inflation gauges showed worrisome signs of price increases that could slow any recovery from the longest recession since the Great Depression.

U.S. consumer confidence rose to a nine-month high in June but failed again to surpass its level of September 2008, when the spectacular failure of Lehman Brothers sent the world economy into a tailspin, a survey showed on Friday.

U.S. import prices rose 1.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on Friday, but the gain was powered by petroleum prices and underlying import price pressures were more muted.

Lower interest rates might not help the euro zone economy despite the impact of further pain for the financial sector, European Central Bank Governing Council member Yves Mersch was quoted on Wednesday as saying.

Stocks fell on Wednesday on worry that rising interest rates could put a damper on consumer and business spending.

Oil jumped nearly 3 percent to settle at a seven-month high of $70 a barrel on Tuesday on the weaker dollar and a U.S. government report revising global demand expectations higher for the first time since September.

Oil jumped nearly 3 percent to above $70 a barrel on Tuesday, boosted by the weaker dollar and a U.S. government report revising global demand expectations higher amid signs the economy may be approving.

Oil rose $1 on Tuesday to top $69 a barrel, boosted by the weaker dollar and a U.S. government report revising global demand expectations higher amid signs the economy may be approving.

Oil snapped a two-day slide on Tuesday, climbing above $69 as the U.S. dollar retreated.

Oil rose on Tuesday, snapping a two-day slide, to climb toward $69 as the U.S. dollar retreated.

U.S. food maker General Mills Inc said it expects fiscal 2009 earnings to exceed its prior profit outlook by several cents, due to a good operating performance and a lower quarterly tax rate.

Extreme weakness in the U.S. economy is moderating but recovery will be slow and marked by lingering high unemployment, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Thursday.

Fewer U.S. workers filed new claims for jobless benefits for a third straight week last week and productivity rose at a stronger-than-expected pace in the first quarter, data showed on Thursday, supporting budding hope that the recession was losing force.