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Economic outlook

Bailout lenders grant Portugal easier debt targets
Portugal's bailout lenders have agreed to ease its debt-reduction targets amid deteriorating economic prospects, the finance minister said Friday, ...
US CEOs optimistic about economy, wary of hiring
Chief executives at the largest U.S. companies are much more optimistic about their sales prospects than they were three months ago, though many ...
Job gains cut unemployment to 7.7 pct., 4-year low
The American job market isn't just growing. It's accelerating. Employers added 236,000 jobs in February and drove down the unemployment rate to 7.
Payrolls shore up markets at end of historic week
Markets across Europe and Asia made decent gains Friday, bringing to an end what has been a historic week that was capped with the release of ...
US household wealth regains pre-recession peak
It took 5½ years. Surging stock prices and steady home-price increases have finally allowed Americans to regain the $16 trillion in wealth they lost ...
Draghi: Do more to promote jobs, growth
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is urging indebted governments to move beyond spending cuts and tax hikes and introduce reforms that ...
US stocks edge up following Dow's record day
After barreling through a record the day before, the Dow Jones industrial average meandered higher on Wednesday. The Dow edged up 42.47 points, or 0.
Private survey shows steady job gains in February
A private survey shows U.S. businesses added a solid number of jobs in February, indicating higher taxes and looming government spending cuts have yet ...
Poland lowers key interest rate to 3.25 percent
The National Bank of Poland lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point to a record low of 3.25 percent on Wednesday, a surprise move ...
Dow hits record, erasing Great Recession losses
The stock market is back. Five and a half years after the start of a frightening drop that erased $11 trillion from stock portfolios and made ...
A sturdier US economy can withstand budget cuts
As economic policy goes, experts say, the automatic spending cuts that kick in Friday are — to use a technical term — bone-headed. Fortunately, the ...
US economy barely grew in Q4, but rebound likely
The weakest quarter for the U.S. economy in nearly two years may end up being a temporary lull. Economists think growth has begun to pick up on the ...
India's budget to push growth, rein in inflation
India's finance minister Thursday unveiled a national budget with a promise to put Asia's third largest economy back on a path of high growth and to ...
German consumer confidence edging higher
Consumer confidence in Germany is edging higher as shoppers feel more optimistic about the economic outlook, according to a survey published Wednesday ...
US economy showing strength as spending cuts loom
Even with automatic spending cuts looming, the outlook for the U.S. economy brightened a bit Tuesday after reports showed that Americans are more ...
Oil snaps 2 days of steep losses, gains modest
The price of oil broke two days of steep losses Friday and scrambled back to above $93 a barrel after official predictions that economic growth in ...
EU says eurozone economy to shrink again in 2013
The European Union predicted Friday that the economy of the 17 member countries that use the euro will shrink again in 2013 even though it will see ...
German Ifo index up in positive sign for economy
A key survey of German business optimism rose sharply in February, adding to the evidence that the country will avoid a recession. The Ifo index ...
Portugal raises $2B in debt sale, cuts forecasts
Portugal raised €1.5 billion ($2 billion) in a debt sale at sharply lower rates Wednesday as the bailed-out country continues to benefit from ...
German investor optimism up, easing recession fear
Investor optimism about the German economy rose in February, according to a closely watched survey, raising hopes that the country may avoid a ...
ECB's Draghi pushes for European bank bailout fund
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Monday the 17-country eurozone must move swiftly to set up a joint fund to restructure and wind down ...
US factory output falls on weak auto production
U.S. factories slowed production in January after two solid months of cranking out goods. The weakness mainly reflected a big drop in output at auto ...
Sharp fall in US jobless claims boosts outlook
The outlook for the U.S. job market is brightening after a government report showed a sharp drop in the number of Americans applying for unemployment ...
German economy shrank in Q4 as exports slump
The German economy shrank by a larger-than-expected 0.6 percent in the final quarter in 2012, official figures showed Thursday, in a clear sign that ...
Japan economy shrinks, fueling push for weak yen
Japan's economy shrank in the last three months of 2012, its third straight quarter of contraction, giving the government ammunition to defend its ...