U.S. consumers felt more confident about the economy last month than at any time since the September failure of Lehman Brothers that pushed global banking to the brink of collapse, a survey showed on Friday.
U.S. automaker Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy and entered an industry-changing deal with Italy's Fiat , in the latest big government intervention in the economy to try to deal with the global crisis.
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, but the weak job market continued to pressure incomes and spending in March, government data showed on Thursday.
The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday the outlook for the U.S. economy had improved a bit in recent weeks but that low interest rates would be needed for some time to ensure it recovers from its deep recession.
Officials at the Federal Reserve Bank said Tuesday that the economy’s outlook has improved since March but still expect weakness for some time.
The Federal Reserve meets this week at a time when the U.S. economy has shown some signs of improvement, and the central bank is likely to restate its support for boosting the economy through both conventional and unorthodox means.
Deflation has arrived but inflation could be flaring up in a couple years. The latest March consumer price index showed the first decline over a 12 month period since the Eisenhower administration. With rising unemployment and excess factory capacity there is virtually no pressure for wages or prices to rise.
Top U.S. officials on Saturday offered reassurances that the worst of the economic downturn is likely over, helped by unprecedented efforts to keep credit flowing, though the recovery will be slow.
Top U.S. officials on Saturday offered reassurances that the worst of the economic downturn is likely over, helped by unprecedented efforts to keep credit flowing, though the recovery will be slow.
The Federal Reserve will not allow its unorthodox policies to trigger a surge in inflation, but may still need to do more to ease credit if the economy remains weak, the Fed's No. 2 official said on Saturday.
Prominent Wall Street economist, Henry Kaufman, said on Friday that the Federal Reserve allowed the global credit crisis to happen and must be redrawn as a tough regulator to stop big financial institutions from taking excessive risks.
China's economy slowed in the first quarter to its weakest pace on record, but an improvement in data for March offers tentative signs that the worst may be over for the world's third-largest economy.
U.S. consumer prices fell in March, posting their first 12-month drop in nearly 54 years, and industrial production slipped further, according to data on Wednesday that underscored the severity of the recession.
U.S. consumer prices fell in March, posting their first 12-month drop in nearly 54 years, and industrial production slipped further, according to data on Wednesday that underscored the severity of the recession.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the latest figures on housing and consumer spending suggest a rapid contraction in the economy could be easing.
China's economy is showing some signs of improvement, but a big fall in wholesale prices in Japan suggested the world's second-largest economy was sliding back toward deflation.
The U.S. economy is set to emerge from recession in the second half of this year as consumer spending and the housing sector recover, but unemployment will rise well into 2010, according to a survey.
The United States economy will skid more deeply into recession in coming months, Federal Reserve policy-makers warned on Thursday, but it is time to start planning how to wind down spending to avert an inflationary surge.
The sense of freefall for the U.S. economy is likely to end in the middle of the year, though the road to recovery could take some time, Lawrence Summers, U.S. President Barack Obama's top White House economic policy aide, said on Thursday.
The U.S. recession is likely to grind on for some time, especially as strains in credit markets continue, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Thursday.
The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent on Thursday, and said it would take another two months to complete its 75 billion pound quantitative easing program.
The recession chokehold that is gripping the world's richest nations won't loosen until late this year, and Reuters polls show the economic outlook has dimmed for 2009 despite a vigorous global stock market rally.
