UNEMPLOYMENT

Romania's top environmental official objected Thursday to plans for a huge gold mine that recently received a key governmental approval, but the head of the mining venture responded by saying his project's environmental standards will be among the highest in the world.

President Barack Obama will throw down the gauntlet with a major speech before Congress on Sept. 8 that promises to be a defining moment for his term of office. Obama will establish the stakes for solving America's unemployment problem and likely politically live or die by the results. The move, expected to come with a controversial price tag, will determine whether Obama and Democrats or Boehner and Republicans can emerge from gridlock in a presidential election year with the stronger hand. ...

Just call it a tread water week for U.S. jobless claims, as they fell 12,000 last week to 409,000, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday, but the drop is a qualified one because some of the decline stemmed from the fact that initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 421,000 from the initially estimated 417,000.

President Barack Obama has bowed to pressure from Republicans and moved the original date of his scheduled high-profile jobs speech. Obama had planned to deliver his major speech suggesting new jobs initiatives that could set the political agenda in Washington for the coming months on Sept. 7 -- but after a Republican request for a date change, it Will be on Sept. 8.

Obama will speak to Congress about jobs, economy on Sept. 7.

Unemployment in the U.S. has been stubbornly high and presents the largest single obstacle to the re-election hopes of Barack Obama. But joblessness among Americans who cannot yet vote – teenagers – are at levels that are both staggering and unprecedented. One labor economist tells IBTimes, “We have never experienced this amount of joblessness among teens.”

Here are Indicators that the morale of the American consumer is at its lowest in years.

Despite tepid U.S. GDP growth, the U.S. job market has not collapsed, as the private sector added 91,000 jobs in August, ADP announced Wednesday.

Gold and silver prices Wednesday hovered near their previous day's closing prices as traders sorted through a mix of positive and negative economic news.

Brent crude hovered at $114 a barrel Wednesday, after posting six days of gains, on expectations the United States will act again to try and boost growth and increase demand for oil.

Asian stocks edged up Wednesday, poised to end a volatile month on a mildly stronger note, while the dollar struggled on heightened expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would do more to stimulate the economy.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday there were a range of policy options available that could create up to a million new U.S. jobs, in remarks ahead of a major economic speech that he will deliver next week.

Forget the struggling economy. There's one U.S. industry -- Big Politics -- that is looking ahead to a record year in 2012.

While speaking to members of the American legion, President stressed his commitment to U.S. veterans and unveiled measures to lower unemployment and improve healthcare to those who have served in the military.

In the nation’s capital, almost one-half of people (49.3 percent) between the ages of 16 and 19 are jobless this summer.

The latest Fed minutes show is that the central bank is well aware that the U.S. economic recovery is underperforming -- it's like a car traveling in the right lane on an interstate highway at 40 miles per hour (barely adequate) -- and it's prepared to take additional action to strengthen the recovery, should the tepid growth conditions continue.

Gold and bonds surged on Tuesday and U.S. stocks rebounded in choppy trade as a recovery in risk appetite among some investors was countered by bearish economic news.

Gold prices jumped 2 percent Tuesday and silver surged 2.1 percent as some investors opted for the safety of precious metals and Treasuries amid continued worries about Europe's sovereign debt crisis and weakness in the American economy.

South Africa's economy grew at its slowest pace in almost two years in the second quarter as the manufacturing and mining sectors slumped after strikes, boosting the case for interest rate cuts while denting the government's job-creation hopes.

The biggest impact from QE3 could come from Ben Bernanke announcing it rather than it actually going into effect.

Michael Vick has come back from bankruptcy and a prison sentence to sign a $100 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Isn't America a great country?