UNEMPLOYMENT

Asia's economic growth may be settling into a middling pace that is too slow to provide significant global support but too fast to warrant aggressive policy easing.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to an almost four-year low last week, and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

Economic growth, jobs and protectionism are the top three worries at the start of 2012, according to a Call to Action published by 11 leaders of international organizations on Friday in a bid to kick-start debate at next week's Davos Forum.

Wall Street axed 2,000 workers in December as poor profits led companies to slice expenses, the biggest reduction since last summer when the industry released its summer interns, James Brown, a labor market analyst with the New York Department of Labor, said on Thursday.

Canada's moment in the sun as the fastest-growing economy in the G7 club of rich countries is set to end this year, when it will likely underperform the U. S. for the first time in seven years and struggle with a mounting household debt problem.

Gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contract on the Comex, fell $9 to settle at $1650.9 an ounce. Early in the day, the price hit a fresh five-week high.

The number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic expanded moderately, suggesting the economy carried some momentum into the new year.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to talk about the debt crisis and the deficit in the Republicans' response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.

The Obama Administration rejected the Keystone oil pipeline on Wednesday, a move that Republicans decried for sacrificing jobs and energy security in order to shore up the president's environmental base before elections.

New applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, a government report on Thursday showed, pointing to continued improvement in the labor market.

New applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a near four-year low last week, a government report on Thursday showed, pointing to continued improvement in the labor market.

Greece and its bondholders have made little progress since resuming stalled talks on a debt swap, three sources close to the talks told Reuters on Thursday, with time to strike a deal and avoid a messy default running out rapidly.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's comment that Turkey is ruled by Islamic terrorists is the latest gaffe by Republican White House hopefuls: foreign policy has been a minefield for these candidates vying to oppose President Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

In a spirited debate last night in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Republican candidates went after both President Barack Obama and their GOP rivals on issues ranging from U.S. trade relations and the federal income tax to misleading attack ads and America's relationship with Turkey. But what statements were true, and what were false?

Consumer prices in the Eurozone fell more than previously expected in December, the start of a retreat from a November peak that should give the European Central Bank more room to cut interest rates as the economy heads for recession.

The South Carolina 2012 GOP debate featured five candidates for the Republican presidential nomination: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Who do you think won the South Carolina 2012 Republican Debate? Vote here, and let us know who you're planning to support for the 2012 Republican nomination.

Hopefully, retailers liked 2011, because 2012 is looking like it will offer more of the same.

Slain civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “March on Washington” in 1963 was, in fact, the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” And King would want the nation today to focus on policies that create jobs for all seeking employment.

Iran said on Sunday it had received a letter from the U.S. government about the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial oil shipping lane that Tehran has threatened to close if sanctions prevent it exporting oil.

European leaders promised on Saturday to speed up plans to strengthen spending rules and get a permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, a day after U.S. agency S&P cut the ratings of several euro zone countries' creditworthiness.

Tunisians Saturday marked the first anniversary of the revolution that started the Arab Spring with celebrations that were true to the spirit of the revolt: raucous, unscripted and driven by the energy of ordinary people.