UNEMPLOYMENT

The U.S. economy is expected to expand at a disappointing pace in 2012, similar to the tepid 1.7 percent growth rate achieved in 2011, despite recent job gains, according to economists at HSBC, who said wages have failed to keep up.

The suicide of a 77-year-old pensioner outside of Greece's parliament has become a symbol of the nation's pain after an economic crisis brought on a host of austerity cuts and caused protests in Athens.

A pharmacist ought to be able to live comfortably on his pension. So for him to reach the point of suicide out of economic hardship means a lot. It shows how the social fabric is unraveling, an activist in Athens said.

Spanish borrowing costs Thursday hit their highest levels since before the European Central Bank launched two massive liquidity injections to keep the euro zone's financial system from freezing up.

Claims for jobless benefits fell to 357,000 last week, building up toward a solid March nonfarm payroll report that is scheduled to come out on Friday. Some economists though still fear that the improvement in the U.S. economy seen so far this year could be just another false start.

Last year we woke up to headlines involving the home of the Acropolis and one of the worst debt situations in recent history – Greece.

China's rise has unsettled many Westerners, especially Americans who fear Chinese influence could overwhelm that of the U.S. As the U.S. struggles through economic recovery, will China seize its chance to lead the world?

By resigning, the president becomes eligible for an emergency election expected to take place May 6, and it opens the door to a challenge from opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, who favors stronger ties with Russia.

Fresh figures on business activity and retail sales in the 17-member currency area reinforce earlier signs of recession, even as the European Central Bank left its main interest rate unchanged at an all-time low of 1 percent.

UK economy seems to be on the track to buck the trend in many other European countries where economic recovery continues to struggle.

U.S. employers created 209,000 jobs in March, slightly more than analysts expected but less than the previous month's figure, a report from Automatic Data Processing Inc., a private payrolls processor showed, on Wednesday.

She didn't mention the U.S. central bank's two previous rounds of bond-buying known as quantitative easing, but Lagarde stressed that past action by the Fed and European regulators helped keep growth strong and steady.

Ongoing fiscal troubles in the 17-state currency area have cut share prices of numerous European companies, making them attractive to suitors from abroad.

Unions, students and others have protested the proposed cuts by staging huge demonstrations in Barcelona, Madrid and other cities across the beleaguered country.

U.S. sales of autos surged in March as consumers decided to replace aging gas-guzzlers and take advantage of low interest rates, especially to buy fuel-efficient vehicles.

Unemployment in Spain, where more than half of young people are out of work, rose for the eight straight month in March to a fresh record high, adding to the risk of an economic contraction as the government struggles to cope with its ballooning public debt.

Jurre Hermans, an 11-year-old boy from the Netherlands, has astounded economists by offering a simple solution to the problem of Greek solvency in the European Union. He has been awarded a special mention for the prestigious Wolfson Economics Prize. Five shortlisted entrants have also been announced.

The US stocks rose Monday on the back of strong manufacturing data, lifting Dow Jones Industrial Average to the highest level since 2007.

With an economy four to five times the size of Greece, a financial collapse and bailout of Spain would be unthinkable for Europe.

Unemployment in the euro zone grew to 10.8 percent in February, up from 10.7 percent in the prior month and the highest since the euro was adopted as a currency, Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Commission, said Monday.

The unemployment rate in the eurozone increased to its highest level in 14 years in February, as the region’s faltering economic growth left more than 17 million people jobless in the month.