UNEMPLOYMENT

Amanda Clayton, a Detroit woman who made headlines after admitting that she still collected food stamps despite a million dollar lottery win, has now been removed from the food assistance program. Officials from the Michigan Department of Human Services confirmed that Clayton officially will not receive $200 a month in benefits, MSNBC reported.

Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as strong uptake by investors in Greece's debt swap fed optimism a deal could be completed by a deadline later in the day, staving off a messy default.

Claims for jobless benefits rose to 362,000, but is still hovering around a 4-year low for the fourth consecutive weeks, underscoring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's view that the U.S. economy has to show stronger growth to ensure that more Americans can find jobs.

Greece moved closer on Thursday to concluding a bond swap deal with private creditors that it desperately needs to stave off a messy default and buy time to repair its exhausted economy.

Employers probably hired more than 200,000 workers for a third straight month in February, indicating that companies are feeling more upbeat about the U.S. economic recovery, economists said before a report this week.

While a bill to bar lottery winners from collecting governmental food assistance has been pushed and discussed in the Michigan Legislature, Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million last fall, reportedly still, collects $200 worth of food stamps a month. According to Yahoo news, the 24 year-old from Lincoln Park, Michigan said she will continue to collect her benefits until she is officially cut-off, despite her mega win.

Tens of thousands of South Africans staged a one-day national strike on Wednesday, hitting mining production, as the biggest labour group in the continent's largest economy flexed its muscles to remind the ruling ANC of its political clout.

Capping victories in five other states Tuesday, Mitt Romney won Ohio's Republican primary, narrowly beating Rick Santorum. But with the win come questions about Romney's campaign strategy and the candidate's appeal.

If you expect the Federal Reserve to launch another round of bond buying to stimulate growth at its meeting next week, you're almost certain to be disappointed.

The euro area's economy shrank in the fourth quarter, raising fear that the euro bloc may already be sliding back into recession as spending, exports and manufacturing collapsed.

A collapse in household spending, exports and manufacturing sucked the life out of the euro zone's economy in the final months of 2011, the EU said on Tuesday, showing the scope of the downturn that looks set to become a fully fledged recession.

A collapse in household spending, exports and manufacturing sucked the life out of the euro zone's economy in the final months of 2011, the EU said on Tuesday, showing the scope of the downturn that looks set to become a fully fledged recession.

Wall Street's bonuses fell nearly 25 percent in 2011, a New York City fiscal watchdog estimated on Monday, a less severe drop than the industry had anticipated, though still likely to deal a blow to the economies of New York City and New York state.

When folks think about President Barack Obama, two specific adjectives flash across millions of American minds: foreign-born and duplicitous. He also reads teleprompters very well.

Tesco Plc (LON:TSCO), the UK's largest retailer, said Monday it would add 20,000 local jobs over two years.

China lowered its economic growth target to an eight-year-low of 7.5 percent from an 8 percent goal in place since 2005, a signal that the country's leaders are determined to scale back the reliance on external demand and foreign capital, in favor of domestic consumption.

Rep. Ron Paul expressed doubt Sunday that Rush Limbaugh was sincere when he apologized for calling a law student a slut over her support for President Barack Obama's new policy on insurance coverage of contraceptives.

To talk bullish on gold looks like a risky proposition at the moment -- last Wednesday, gold saw one of the most brutal routs in a year when it tumbled five percent. It indeed recovered 1.5 percent the next day, broadly symbolizing the roller-coaster ride of bullion in recent times.

Stocks have proven the naysayers wrong so far in 2012. And the February employment situation summary on Friday could be just the ticket to keep the bulls going next week. Besides the jobs report on Friday, next week brings an ADP private-sector employment report on Wednesday.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday cut the credit ratings of Greece, saying that the recently announced debt-exchange proposals for the country imply expected losses to investors of more than 70 percent.

With the U.S. economy showing signs of strengthening due to Keynesian economic policies, the Republican Party should do itself a favor: stop offering ineffective economic policies and quit while it's behind.