Economy News

NEW YORK - Fireworks aren't the only thing skyrocketing on this Fourth of July. The price of gas has hit another all-time high.

SAPPORO, Japan - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

WASHINGTON - The nation lost jobs for a sixth month in a row in June, a storm of pink slips drenching this year's July Fourth holiday for more than 60,000 Americans and leaving thousands more worried about the future.

TOKYO (Reuters) - G8 leaders aim to present a united front against global inflation, driven by soaring oil and food prices, at a summit in Japan next week, but solving the problem requires more than just a strong message from rich nations.

LONDON (AFP) - Inflation, and not the credit crunch, is the biggest economic concern worldwide, especially in developing countries, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview Thursday.

1 The 6th straight monthly payrolls drop was in line with forecasts, though April and May payrolls were revised lower. That bodes ill for the economy, but recessions typically have bigger job cuts. Unemployment stayed at 5.5%, defying forecasts for a dip after May's spike. Factories and home builders slashed staff. Rising jobless claims signal more job losses ahead.

WASHINGTON - Wall Street companies sharply scaled back their borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week while commercial banks boosted it slightly.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut workers for a sixth straight month in June for the longest such streak since 2002 and the country's vast service sector unexpectedly contracted, underscoring the economy's frailty.

NEW YORK - Higher oil prices caused service businesses to shrink in June, as falling new orders and rising costs hit the nation's coffee shops, paper mills and corner stores.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tired of pumping his cash right back into his gas tank, New York City taxi driver Mohammed Kalair says he is considering quitting his job and going back to his native Pakistan.

NEW YORK - Wall Street capped a shortened trading week with a mixed finish Thursday after some uneven economic data: news of a contraction in the nation's services sector and a tame reading on employment. But stocks still had their third dismal week in a row, with the major indexes again posting losses as worries about rising oil prices and the fallout from the credit crisis dogged the market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut workers from their payrolls for the sixth straight month in June for the country's longest losing streak since 2002, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, government data on Thursday showed.

WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid off people signing up for unemployment insurance rose sharply last week.

LONDON (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said here on Thursday that the US economy would most likely be stronger at the end of 2008, even as oil prices surged to new records above 146 dollars.

LONDON (Reuters) - A weaker dollar cannot be blamed for soaring oil prices as policymakers around the world tussle with the twin specters of rising inflation and slowing growth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday inflation was becoming the top economic focus of many countries around the world as oil and food prices take their toll.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the US economy was enduring "a rough period" and warned that home foreclosures would likely remain high in the near future.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow sank into a bear market on Wednesday as U.S. stocks fell on growing concerns about the toll that record oil prices are taking on the economy and corporate profits.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Wednesday that high oil prices, further home price declines and capital markets turmoil will prolong the American economy's slowdown, while Europe and the UK were also showing signs of slower growth.

The newest anomaly in financial markets tops all others arising in recent months. Inflation fears are now reflected in expectations that US monetary policy will and should become more restrictive before the year is out. The ECB is about to go down this route and the Bank of England may also want to do so.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private-sector employers slashed 79,000 jobs in June, the largest drop since November 2002, according to a report by ADP Employer Services released on Wednesday that may spell bad news for the government's labor market report later this week.

WASHINGTON - High gasoline prices have dramatically changed Americans' views on energy and the environment with more people now viewing oil drilling and new power plants as a greater priority than energy conservation than they did five months ago, according to a new survey.

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. auto dealer Lithia Motors Inc said on Tuesday it would withdraw its earnings outlook, citing weak June vehicle sales and the shift in consumer demand due to rising gas prices.

UNITED NATIONS - Rich and poor nations have more in common this year — a growing sense of economic insecurity, the U.N. says in an annual survey of world economic and social trends released Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Construction spending fell in May for the 11th time in the past year as a continuing slump in housing offset strength in nonresidential building.

DETROIT - Nearly all the major automakers reported steep sales declines for June, but for General Motors at least there was consolation: Toyota, its leading international competition, had it worse.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. factory activity expanded unexpectedly in June but inflation pressures soared, according to a report released

LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Soaring commodity costs are denting manufacturing activity in Asia and Europe and the outlook looks bleak as new orders drop off in the face of rising prices, surveys showed on Tuesday.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Tuesday said the United States and Germany agreed that a breakthrough in the Doha round of trade talks would help control world food price inflation, but high oil prices required longer-term solutions.