United States

• Saturday, March 1st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  US spending on food and fuel rises as dollar looses ground

  United States consumer spending rose more than expected in January, but much of the gain was down to rising prices. The Commerce Department said on Friday personal spending rose 0.4% last month, a bigger rise than economists were expecting.

• Friday, February 29th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  US Congress extends Andean countries trade preferences

  The United States Senate voted Thursday to extend expiring trade preferences that allow Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia to send most products to the U.S. duty-free. The ten month extension, through the end of 2008, was approved without objection.

• Friday, February 29th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Bernanke anticipates small bank failures linked to mortgages

  

  Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that small US banks are likely to fail in the months ahead as the housing slump takes its toll. Bernanke also warned that the US is currently facing a more difficult situation than in the aftermath of the dotcom bust in 2001.

• Wednesday, February 27th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Fed minutes reveal differences on interest rates cuts

  Nine of Federal Reserve directors thought continued deterioration in financial markets and weakened economic conditions in the housing and labor markets needed the half percentage point cut to the discount rate last month.

• Monday, February 25th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Greenspan comes out in support of Sovereign Funds

  

  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Monday any United States resistance to sovereign wealth funds investing in the world's largest economy would be “counter-productive.”

• Thursday, February 21st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Fed forecasts less US growth and higher unemployment

  The US Federal Reserve has slashed its growth forecast for the US economy and raised its forecast for unemployment. The Fed cut its growth forecast for this year by half a percent to a new range of between 1.3% and 2%. The US central bank also said the jobless rate could be as high as 5.3% by the end of the year.

• Monday, February 18th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Undercover video forces massive recall of beef in California

  

  The United States Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of approximately 64.000 tons of beef from a Southern California slaughterhouse that is the subject of an animal-abuse investigation.

• Saturday, February 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Identity theft, main US consumer fraud for 7 years running

  

  Identity theft for the seventh year in a row topped in 2007 the list of consumer fraud complaints recorded by the United States Federal Trade Commission, FTC. The list contained in the publication “Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data January-December 2007,” showed that of 813,899 total complaints received in 2007, 258,427, or 32% were related to identity theft.

• Friday, February 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Fed admits outlook for US economy “has worsened”

  United States Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke told Congress on Thursday that the US economic outlook had deteriorated but pointed out that the Fed will “act in a timely manner”.

• Friday, February 15th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  US 2007 trade deficit narrows for first time in six years

  

  The US trade deficit narrowed in 2007 after five years of consecutive records, pushed by exports that helped offset the country's large growth in oil imports and trade gap with China. The deficit reached 711.6 billion US dollars in 2007, down from 758.5 billion in 2006, a 6.2% decline the Commerce Department said.