UNEMPLOYMENT

The U.S. is just one-shock away from a double-dip recession, one economist says.

Emboldened by concessions wrung from their own leadership and President Barack Obama during the debt limit fight, Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers will likely remain a driving force in the Republican Party -- and possibly induce gridlock until the 2012 elections.

The Dow is plunging, as stocks are coming back to the woes that Main Street has grappled with since the recession. Stocks had soared this year while Main Street America grappled with slow growth and high unemployment.

The U.S. sell-off follows even greater declines in Europe.

U.S. states are making "unprecedented" cuts to unemployment benefit programs, hoping to keep their budgets in line as the country's jobless rate shows no sign of budging, according to a report the National Employment Law Project released on Wednesday.

The U.S. debt deal means that federal spending will now generate even less demand in the quarters ahead, in an economy that?s already weak, and with an unemployment rate at 9.2 percent. To say the Fed has been monitoring the situation would be an understatement.

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits were little changed last week, a government report showed on Thursday, pointing to a marginal improvement in the labor market.

People have heard about products that are made in China and shipped to other countries but this time the Chinese chopsticks are produced in America and shipped to China.

President Barack Obama will take a three-day campaign-style bus tour through the American Midwest this month, as he tries to refocus attention on jobs seen as vital to his chances of winning re-election in 2012.

Indian conglomerate Essar plans to spend up to $4 billion constructing a plant to process iron ore from Zimbabwe's Mwanesi resource within the next five years, Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube said on Wednesday.

The pace of growth in the services sector ticked down unexpectedly in July to the lowest level since February 2010, while the number of jobs created by the private sector also slowed, separate reports showed on Wednesday.

Congress has done the urgent -- passed the U.S. debt deal to help eliminate the budget deficit. But what about an equally important U.S. problem: the jobs deficit?

President Barack Obama will be celebrating his 50th birthday Wednesday night at Chicago's classy Aragon Ballroom, and he's looking for a specific type of present for the midlife milestone: campaign contributions.

President Barack Obama will fly to his hometown in Chicago on Wed. to celebrate his 50th birthday party at two fundraisers for Democrats.

Would distributing $3,000 gift cards to every American over age 16 get the U.S. economy out of its slump, and create more jobs? The tactic is unconventional, but if the economy doesn't start creating more jobs soon, Congressional leaders may have to implement the unconventional.

With more than 14 million people out of work, consumer spending falling by the day, the GDP growth outlook remaining grim and rising inflation denting confidence of ordinary people, a massive spending cut of more than $2 trillion would be the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday confirmed its Aaa rating of the United States, citing the decision to raise the debt limit, but assigned a negative outlook that could pressure lawmakers to cut the U.S. deficit.

North Africans are flocking to Italy and Europe in large numbers, testing the continents infrastructure.

South Africa said it would push Wal-Mart to rejig the conditions of its $2.4 billion Massmart deal, as Pretoria looks to wring bigger concessions from the world's top retailer.

The Senate Tuesday easily passed the debt deal bill, 76-24, and immediately sent it to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it very soon. When the president does, the world's largest and most-technologically advanced economy will have averted a credit market-constraining default and ended a bitter political chapter.

In the tough economy, people are buying less Coors beer. Molson Coors Brewing Co. said Tuesday weak sales hurt quarterly profits, citing weak economic conditions, sentiment that was underscored hours later when the U.S. Commerce Department released figures show consumer gains combined with rising fuel costs prompted Americans to pinch dollars more tightly -- and beer was apparently one of the items cut.