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The U.S. economy contracted at a much steeper pace than previously estimated in the first quarter, but there are indications that growth has since rebounded strongly. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday gross domestic product fell at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the economy's worst performance in five years, instead of the 1.0 percent pace it had reported last month. While the economy's woes have been largely blamed on an unusually cold winter, the magnitude of the revisions suggest other factors at play beyond the weather. Growth has now been revised down by a total of 3.0 percentage points since...

Green Shoots! Joe WeisenthalOct. 22, 2012, 5:02 AMThe global economy is seeing a fresh round of green shoots. That's the buzz at the moment. It's perfectly summarized by this paragraph from Morgan Stanley's Joachim Fels from his latest Sunday Start note: The other thing I will be watching is whether there will be more signs of green shoots in the economic data. You may remember that I pointed out the strong Korean export numbers as a first sign of hope two Sundays ago. In the meantime, exports in Germany, Taiwan and China, the whole range of monthly data in China...

JAY CARNEY, WH Press Secretary: "They don't give a lick about the day and time: ED HENRY, FOX News: "Why doesn't he give a speech from the oval office tonight saying here's my plan?" CARNEY: "He wants to speak before Congress because he recognizes that while there are things he can do without Congress, and he will do them, there are actions that need to be taken with Congress that require legislation to grow the economy and create jobs. And he wants to go to Congress, speak directly to members of Congress, and layout his proposals."

The Washington Post has reported a 50% plunge in profits for the second quarter of 2011, as advertising revenue at its print and online businesses suffered double-digit declines. The Washington Post Company, which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange, also reported that its education unit, Kaplan, had a tough quarter, with operating income plunging 82% to $20.5m and revenues falling 15% to $628.7m. Overall profits at the Washington Post Company for the three months to the end of June were $45.6m, a 50% decline on the $91.9m the company reported in the same period last year.

For years now, we have heard report after report that we are seeing "green shoots" in the economy. Things may be bad now, but the reporter sees better times tomorrow. Our stock market valuations depend on these better times tomorrow. President Obama's outlook for the country's finances depends on an "economic boom" between now and 2013.

Instead of commenting again on the ability of the Democratic House and Senate to ignore pay-as-you-go when they feel like it (i.e., passing unemployment benefits without paying for them), I have decided this week to indulge in a bit of folderol. In thinking through the following possible scenarios, just image what could be: Sept. 6, 2012 After an 18-month roller coaster ride that has left most of the nation exhausted and confused, the final players have been determined for the last two months of the presidential campaign. After former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received the Republican nomination last month, former...

The number of people applying for initial state unemployment insurance benefits rose 37,000 to 464,000 in the week ended July 17, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected an initial claims level of 450,000.

The Federal Reserve seems to finally understand the true nature of the economic mess in which it finds itself. Now if only the White House would get clued in, we'd take the first step to ward solving our problems. The problem isn't just that the economy is in a recession. It's also broken. That's why the Obama administration's massive stimulus spending and the Fed's near zero interest rates have had little impact.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Aides to U.S. President Barack Obama will aim on Wednesday to lift sagging confidence in their economic leadership by arguing that their policies are creating millions of jobs and spurring private investment. A report to be released at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) will estimate that Obama's $862 billion economic stimulus package, which passed last year, has saved or created 3 million jobs and is on track to meet its goal of 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.

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COLOSSAL WIND COST: Tom King, president of National Grid, and Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates, announce a deal in Waltham, MA yesterday to start charging Bay State customers 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2013.

Bank of America, the nation's largest mortgage lender, ramped up its foreclosure activity in March, sending hundreds of letters warning delinquent borrowers in the region that it could sell their homes at auction in as little as three weeks, according to North County Times analysis of data from ForeclosureRadar. The bank said the increased activity was a natural consequence of borrowers running out of options. Analysts and real estate agents said the moves by the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant, which controls a large share of the Southern California mortgage market, could signal a final reckoning for homeowners who have been...

Simon Property Group Inc. has submitted a $10 billion bid to buy the bankrupt General Growth Properties Inc. Indianapolis-based Simon (NYSE: SPG) owns nearly 400 retail properties nationwide, including Ingram Park Mall and Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio. Chicago-based General Growth Properties (Pink Sheets: GGWPQ) owns North Star Mall and is an investor in The Shops at La Cantera in San Antonio. Under the terms of the offer, about $7 billion of the total bid would go toward General Growth’s creditors. Shareholders of General Growth would receive the balance of the funds — which equates to more than $9...

Of the more than $2 billion the federal government has given out to boost the economy and create green-energy jobs, more than three-quarters has gone to foreign-owned companies that dominate the global wind-power industry. This latest finding by the Investigative Reporting Workshop, a nonprofit at American University in Washington, D.C., is illustrated clearly in San Diego County, where about a dozen commercial wind developers have offices. La Jolla is the headquarters for Eurus Energy America, the subsidiary of a Japanese firm that received $91 million in federal stimulus money for a wind farm in western Texas. It plans to apply...

Job losses during the Great Recession have been huge and they're about to get bigger. When the Labor Department releases the January unemployment report Friday, it will also update its estimate of jobs lost in the year that ended in March 2009. The number is expected to rise by roughly 800,000, raising the number of jobs shed during the recession to around 8 million. The new data will help illustrate the scope of the jobs crisis. Analysts think the economy might generate 1 million to 2 million jobs this year. And they say it will take at least three to...

The year 2010 is likely to be the pivotal year where pundits stop referring to the recession and begin openly talking about a depression. Our economic problem is rather simple to describe: There is too much debt relative to income and/or wealth. Below is a single graph that depicts the condition of our economy. It shows total debt of the U.S. as a percentage of GDP from 1870 forward. The debt figure includes all private and public debt. It does not include liabilities associated with unfunded government mandates like Social Security and Medicare. (Note: according to the U.S. trustees of...

Small Business Bankruptcies Rise 81% In State With credit tight and consumers still pinching their pennies, many business owners find they can't go on. By Nathan Olivarez-Giles December 21, 2009 The Obama administration's new plan to give a boost to small businesses reflects continued trouble in that sector, which is facing new failures even as much of the nation's economy is stabilizing. As credit lines have shrunk and consumers have cut back on spending, thousands of small businesses have closed their doors over the last year. The plight of struggling firms has been aggravated by the reluctance of banks to...

NEW YORK (AP) -- YRC Worldwide said Friday it lost money in the third quarter, but the financially fragile trucking company is still working with lenders to stay out of bankruptcy. Despite a weak economy and competitors nipping at its heels, YRC CEO Bill Zollars said in a conference call with analysts that he's confident the company will be able to rightsize itself next year. But he expects the economy to remain weak through the first half of 2010. "I don't think there's anything that would make us think we can't be back there at some point," Zollars said. "The...

..."The great recession is over," NABE President-Elect Lynn Reaser said...the private-sector group, which does not define a recession as two consecutive quarters of decline in real gross domestic product, often takes months to make determinations...

What goes up must fall just as hard. Case in point: cash for clunkers: "The dramatic decline in sales reported Thursday by the Big Three automakers suggested the extent to which the stimulus act has propped up the economy. The government’s wildly popular “Cash for Clunkers” program drove consumer spending to its highest level in eight years in August. But after it ended, so did the growth in auto sales. General Motors’ sales plunged 36 percent in September compared with August. Ford plummeted 37 percent. Chrysler dove 33 percent. Cash for clunkers “was a one-time boost of sales followed by...