Business news with words economic+economy. 60 or more news.

Oil prices were flat Monday on the final trading day of the year, after a decline in the previous session on concerns about the U.S. economy. Light, sweet crude for February delivery traded down one cent at $95.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the...

Never mind the U.S. subprime loan crisis, the main cause of Japan's lackluster economic performance this year is entirely self-inflicted, according to analysts.

Last year was one of the best in history for the economy, and by all indications, 2008 figures to be an outstanding economic year for Israel as well. ...

This week's data releases will provide greater clarity on the extent of contagion from the crisis in credit markets into the real economy

What happened in 2007 Wichita's already solid $20 billion economy just kept getting stronger through the year. Aircraft companies set records for orders and deliveries. Agriculture, and oil and gas surged on record prices. Most other local sectors benefited. Even housing and construction sectors held up well, as the rest of the nation suffered. The local unemployment rate fell from 4.3 to 3.7 percent in the past 12 months. Roughly 11,000 more people are working now than last year. Opportunities in 2008

US stocks enter the new year next week on a cautious note, as investors face rising concerns about the economy and a raft of economic data, including the important monthly employment report.

STOCKS finished an erratic week narrowly mixed yesterday after a government report of a steep decline in new home sales stirred concerns that weakness in housing will continue to dog the economy. The Commerce Department report that new home sales fell 9 percent from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000 triggered renewed nervousness that consumers could become uneasy and tamp down their spending. Stocks, which fell more than 1 percent Thursday following unwelcome economic readings and the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, fluctuated through the day yesterday. The Chicago purchasing managers' index had for a time offered some support to investor sentiment yesterday after it showed a stronger-than-expected increase for December manufacturing activity in the Midwest. But Wall Street appeared unable to hold onto its enthusiasm for too long. Investors are eager for any economic data that can help illuminate whether weakness in the

AFP - US stocks enter a new year next week on a cautious note, as investors face rising concerns about the economy and a raft of economic data, including the important monthly employment report.

HONG Kong's exports grew at the slowest pace in 14 months in November on weak demand in the United States, where a housing recession threatens to stall economic growth. Shipments rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier to HK$244 billion (US$31 billion) after gaining 9.8 percent in October, the statistics department said yesterday. The deepest housing slump in 16 years may undermine US consumer spending. The US economy will expand at a one percent annual pace in the fourth quarter after growing at a 4.9 percent rate from July through September, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed this month by Bloomberg News.

Taiwan's economy still showed signs of steady growth in November despite a slowdown in its pace, the top official economic planning body said Thursday.

WALL Street skidded yesterday after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and after the Commerce Department's durable goods orders exacerbated concerns about the US economy. The major indexes each lost well over 1 percent and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 192 points. Bhutto's assassination raised the possibility of increasing political unrest abroad, always an unsettling prospect for investors who have already been contending with domestic economic concerns for months. Oil prices rose following the news, and that unwelcome inflationary trend only added to Wall Street's uneasiness. Meanwhile, the government said orders for durable goods, big-ticket items from commercial jetliners to home appliances, rose by just 0.1 percent last month. Economists had been looking for a rise of 2.2 percent. Still, November saw the first rise in durable goods orders in the last four months. The Labor Department said the number of workers seeking unemployment

Stocks tanked Thursday, after gaining some momentum earlier in the week, as political turmoil in Pakistan turned deadly and downbeat economic reports took the wind out of Wall Street's sails.

Stocks tanked Thursday, after gaining some momentum earlier in the week, as political turmoil in Pakistan turned deadly and downbeat economic reports took the wind out of Wall Street's sails.

JAPAN'S housing starts fell for a fifth month in November, indicating that stricter rules for obtaining building permits may remain a drag on economic growth in the first quarter of 2008. Ground broken on new homes and condominiums tumbled 27 percent from a year earlier after falling 35 percent in October, the Land Ministry said in Tokyo yesterday. The median estimate of 31 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 28.5-percent drop. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said last week he regretted the slump in housing starts that resulted from building-code changes made in June after an architect fabricated earthquake-resistance data. The central bank lowered its evaluation of the economy for the first time in three years last week, and the government slashed its growth forecast because of the building fiasco. "We don't expect a fully fledged recovery in housing starts at least until mid-2008," Takehiro Sato, chief Japan economist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo, said before

Japan generated 9.1% of the world's economic output in 2006, its smallest share in more than 25 years.

JAPAN'S economic growth is slowing and policy makers need to carefully examine ensuing data, oil prices and financial markets before setting interest rates, said Hidetoshi Kamezaki, a Bank of Japan board member. The economy "continues to be led by exports and business investment and improvements aren't easily filtering into consumer spending," Kamezaki said yesterday in Yokohama, Bloomberg News reported. "We must carefully monitor rising oil and other costs, the correction of the weak yen and declining stocks." The Bank of Japan last week kept the benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent and lowered its economic assessment for the first time in three years. Governor Toshihiko Fukui said risks to the world's second largest economy are increasing as US growth slows and financial markets remain volatile. "Kamezaki presented the BOJ's consensus that Japan's economy isn't ready for another rate increase," said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life

THE Bank of Japan refrained from raising interest rates in November because of concern that "unstable" financial markets may derail world economic growth, minutes show. "Global financial markets continued to be unstable and there was uncertainty regarding global economic developments," most board members said at their November 12-13 policy meeting, according to the minutes published yesterday in Tokyo, Bloomberg News reported. Since the meeting, the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and three other central banks have pledged to inject billions of dollars into money markets to alleviate a credit squeeze threatening global economic growth. The Bank of Japan kept the key interest rate at 0.5 percent last week and lowered its economic assessment for the first time in three years. "With the minutes pointing out downside risks for the world economy, led by the US, expectations of higher rates are dwindling," said Tomoko Fujii, head of

CHINA will tighten funding rules for new projects to curb investment and worsening pollution in the world's fourth-biggest economy, according to an official from the nation's top economic planning agency. China will "soon" reduce the amount of debt companies can use for projects in industries that have excess capacity, pollute heavily or use too much energy, said Luo Guosan, of the investment department of the National Development and Reform Commission. The official, interviewed on a government Website on Tuesday, didn't detail the planned capital requirements. Investment is driving an expansion that's the fastest of any major economy and forecast by the government to be 11.5 percent this year. China wants to prevent economic overheating, reduce the environmental toll from serving as the world's manufacturing and assembly hub, and cut the risk of bad loans and sinking profits in a slowdown, Bloomberg News said. "The measure should be a further constraint on

BERLIN - Germany's economy minister said the government must lower its 2008 economic growth forecast, according to an interview released Wednesday.

Germany's economy minister said the government must lower its 2008 economic growth forecast, according to an interview released Wednesday.