MICHIGAN

Austerity has come to America through state and local governments.

Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits continued to rise for the second week, according to a report by the U.S. Labor Department.

After repossessing more than a record 1 million homes in the U.S., banks are now poised to foreclosure on even more properties in 2011, according to Realty Trac Inc.

Analyst Meredith Whitney, who has faced enormous criticism over her dire warnings about the likelihood of up to 100 U.S. municipalities defaulting this year, reiterated her call. She further warned that when the defaults commence, the muni bond market will witness a massive exodus.

General Motors unveiled the all-new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic at the North American International Auto Show on Monday.

Ford Motors unveiled its first all-electric car, Focus, which is expected to get up to 160km on a single charge.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on economic outlook and monetary and fiscal policy before the committee on the budget, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., Jan. 7, 2011

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: The McClatchy Co, Newcastle Investment, Taubman Centers, Agree Realty, Office Depot, Quantum Corp, Jaguar Mining and Ferro Corp.

Top Senate Democrats have vowed to block a wholesale repeal of the health care reform law passed earlier this year, saying millions of U.S. senior citizens would face the prospect of paying more for prescription drugs if the repeal took place.

Detroit-based non-profit healthcare service provider Detroit Medical Center (DMC) has agreed to pay the federal government $30 million penalty to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute by involving in improper financial relationships with referring physicians, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

U.S. consumer confidence fell in December to 52.5, weighed down by worries about jobs, the Conference Board stated.

The Department of Health and Human Services is handing out end of the year bonuses. Unlike the big cash awards that investment firms give their best performers at year’s end, these bonuses are meant to help the poor and disadvantaged.

Recent economic reports indicate that the average U.S. consumer is feeling more confident about the economy and intends to spend more with that belief. Consumer spending, which forms about 70 percent of GDP growth, rose in November for the sixth straight month, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Personal income also inched up marginally, which prices also rose during the month.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. improved to its best level in six months during December but the state of consumers' finances still remains grim, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey said on Thursday.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices remained-range bound on Thursday ahead of a wave of economic data including key weekly U.S. jobs data from the government.

Most massive stars in the universe can and do form essentially anywhere, including in near isolation and very small clusters, and they don't need a large stellar cluster nursery, a new study finds. The findings does not support the scenario that the maximum mass of a star in a cluster has to correlate with the size of the cluster.

The 2010 Census results show that the jobs market and population growth go hand in hand.

Twelve Congressional seats will be shifting states in time for the 2012 elections, according to figures released today by the 2010 U.S. Census, and the most seats are coming to Texas..

2010 Census results release : live

A Detroit-area medical clinic owner has been sentenced to 151 months in prison for his role in a $23 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced.