ARIZONA

Arizona union workers have reached a tentative agreement with grocers Kroger Co and Safeway Inc, averting a potential strike that had been scheduled to begin on Friday.

Union workers at Arizona grocery stores operated by Kroger Co and Safeway Inc set a Friday evening strike deadline if a contract agreement is not reached, a union spokesman said on Wednesday.

High unemployment and reluctant consumers will likely make an incipient U.S. economic recovery weak and erratic, top Federal Reserve officials said in a string of speeches across the country on Tuesday.

High unemployment and reluctant consumers will likely make an incipient U.S. economic recovery weak and erratic, top Federal Reserve officials said in a string of speeches across the country on Tuesday.

Three top Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the U.S. economy, citing high unemployment, heavy reliance on government support and commercial real estate woes as hurdles to recovery.

Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the U.S. economy, citing high unemployment, heavy reliance on government support and commercial real estate woes as hurdles to recovery.

The number of U.S. homes listed for sale fell nearly 3 percent in October compared to September, according to real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Harvard Business School is sending 28 percent of its 2009 graduating class onto careers in finance, a mildly bullish sign for the economy, said Ray Soifer, an independent bank consultant.

Harvard Business School is sending 28 percent of its 2009 graduating class onto careers in finance, a mildly bullish sign for the economy, said Ray Soifer, an independent bank consultant.

Nearly five months after Chrysler Group LLC emerged from bankruptcy under the leadership of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, Rocco Massarelli faces almost certain ruin.

U.S. authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation's banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.

Regulators are expected to seize Los Angeles-based California National Bank on Friday in what would be the fourth-largest U.S. bank failure this year, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

U.S. Bancorp on Friday acquired nine banks held by FBOP Corp, picking up $18.4 billion in assets after regulators seized a major Los Angeles lender and eight other banks in the latest failures to emerge from the financial crisis.

Six pigs shown at the Minnesota State Fair last month have been confirmed as having had the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday.

The idea that hundreds of people would line up outside anything to do with Microsoft would have been far-fetched only a few years ago -- but on Thursday that's what happened when the software giant opened its first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 on Thursday, its most important release in more than a decade, aiming to win back customers disappointed by Vista and strengthen its grip on the PC market.

Microsoft Corp. formally unveiled Thursday its newest operating system, Windows 7, as the software giant hopes to breath new life into its Operating System product line. Steve Ballmer said the product was a result of an intense collaboration between Microsoft and its partners - 50,000 software, hardware, and peripheral vendors, as well as 8 million beta testers.

As Microsoft Corp. released its much-talked about Windows 7 operating system on Thursday, the software giant quietly opened its first retail store in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Microsoft Corp launched Windows 7 on Thursday in its most important release for more than a decade, aiming to win back customers after the disappointing Vista and strengthen its grip on the PC market.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said Wednesday it has decided to move forward on three deferred copper mining projects, citing a positive outlook for its metal markets and its ability to manage costs during the global economic downturn.

The practice of brokers giving high-frequency traders unfettered access to the U.S. stock markets is raising anxiety among industry players who fear the risks it poses and the damage that could be done to their own reputations.