UNEMPLOYMENT

At one point, the cowboy-boot wearing huckster from the Lone Star State was the darling of the GOP's right, before shoddy debate performances and a goofy stump speech in New Hampshire sent his poll numbers plummeting. Now Perry has adopted a hyper-Christian posture in a last ditch effort at garnering support from Iowa's Evangelical base of Republican voters.

House Republicans have proposed a bill extending the payroll tax cut that includes a provision to push through the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and reform several social safety net programs, openly defying a veto threat by President Barack Obama.

The government report released Thursday reveals notable declines in initial and continued employment claims, and the news was joined by a report that wholesale inventories in October jumped the highest in five months, signaling that businesses are also in a recovery mode with higher consumer demand.

Real estate developer Forest City Enterprises reported a net loss of $41.9 million, or 25 cents per share, in the third quarter ending Oct. 31, down from $50.6 million, or 33 cents per share, loss in 2010.

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) reported a bigger-than-expected rise in November sales at established restaurants across the board, led by big gains in Japan, China and a strong showing in its top revenue market of Europe.

Initial jobless claims are dropping -- they're down to 381,000 but they will have to continue to decline to give investors confidence that the current U.S. economic expansion is sustainable.

President Barack Obama needs several factors to break his way to improve his chance for re-election in 2012 -- the most important of which is U.S. job growth.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate dropped to 3.99 percent in the week ending Dec. 8 from four percent in the previous week, according to Freddie Mac.

Fewer Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. Thursday's data once again edged back from the 400,000 mark -- the level below which economists say signals a strengthening job market - after popping above it in the prior week.

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a nine-month low last week, a government report showed on Thursday, suggesting the labor market recovery was gaining momentum.

U.S. mortgage loan delinquencies are projected to decline to five percent by the end of 2012 from around six percent at the end of 2011, according to TransUnion.

Demonstrators from across the nation descended on Capitol Hill on Monday as part of a four-day effort to meet with congressional leaders to highlight the plight of U.S. unemployment.

Adriana Garcia won't be buying her family Christmas gifts this year.

Canada is betraying its native peoples, who must deal with dreadful living conditions, poor health care and discrimination, the country's top aboriginal leader said in a fiery speech on Tuesday.

Americans are dining out at about the same rate they did last year, stunting the growth of the restaurant industry in an economy that remains sluggish.

Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. luxury home builder, reported a net income of $15 million in the fiscal fourth quarter ending Oct. 31, or nine cents per diluted share, down from $50.5 million, or 30 cents per share, in 2010.

U.S. Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., have conjured a middle ground they believe could settle the ongoing debate over extending the payroll tax cut.

Women are attending and obtaining degrees from U.S. colleges and universities at a pace exceeding that of men. On some co-ed campuses, the girls outnumber the boys by a ratio of almost three-to-one.

The Federal Reserve must take immediate action to inject new life into a moribund U.S. recovery or risk letting the nation settle into a permanently lower growth path, a top Fed official said on Monday.

In a new round of political horse trading, Senate Democrats are offering up a modified version of their payroll tax cut extension, one which pays for itself in a GOP-friendly manner, in order to increase the likelihood of its package.

Ginger White, the alleged former love interest of Herman Cain, used to think about grocery store shopping while having sex with the former Republican presidential candidate.