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

The dollar remained under pressure against its major trading partners following weak housing data on Friday which which added to investors' fears that the American economy may sink into recession

It's going to prove a dangerous 2008 for the US economy.

Stocks fell last week and were poised for their first fourth-quarter decline since 2000 after government reports on durable goods and unemployment reinforced speculation that the housing-market collapse will push the economy into recession.

The global credit crunch, and a supposedly impending UK house price crash, have kept economics on the nation's front pages this year. That will continue during 2008, as the world economy undergoes seismic change.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks are likely to advance in the first week of 2008 as investors pick through equities that have been battered in recent weeks and as they get confirmation from the latest jobs report that the economy hasn't tipped into recession, said strategists.

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.

Michigan's economy in the past few years has often been described as gripped in a "one-state recession," and while no one predicts a rose garden for the state in 2008, there are least some signs this may be the last tough year before the state begins a slow rebound in 2009.

It was a year that started on a high with house prices still increasing and the global economy in good shape. But it would end with talks of a US recession and house prices down 6%. Niamh Hennessy takes a look back at what made the headlines in the business world in 2007.

After a wild year in which the stock market was whipsawed by housing-related losses, analysts expect modest growth in 2008, assuming the economy skirts a recession.

Some economists predict the U.S. economy will slide into recession next year. Others expect the nation to avoid recession, if only barely. A few even think the economy will see solid growth. But for many middle- and lower-income families, the distinction won'...

Economy

SALES of new homes in the US fell in November, signaling no end to the housing recession that threatens to stall economic growth, economists said before a report this week. Purchases fell to an annual pace of 718,000 from 728,000 in October, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The 716,000 pace reached in September was the lowest since 1996, according to Bloomberg News. The real estate slump, already the deepest in 16 years, shows no sign of abating as discounts fail to lure buyers and inventories swell. The risk that the slowdown will spread through the entire economy is prompting business to rein in orders for new equipment, a separate report may also show. "We're not in line for any good news on housing for a long period of time," said Mike Schenk, chief economist at the Credit Union National Association, in Madison, Wisconsin. "It's a sector that will take a long time to turn around." The home sale figures are due

Some economists predict that the U.S. economy will slide into recession next year. Others expect the nation to avoid recession, if only barely. A few even think the economy will see solid growth.

ASIAN stocks rose for a second day, led by electronics makers, after consumer spending increased more than forecast in the United States, the region's biggest export market. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, maker of iPods for Apple Inc, and Samsung Electronics Co climbed to the highest in more than a week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced the most in three weeks last Friday after the report on November spending eased concern about recession in the world's biggest economy. "US shares showed firm gains, and we're seeing the influence in shares today (yesterday)," said Kim Jae Dong, who oversees the equivalent of US$8.6 billion at Korea Investment Trust Management Co in Seoul. BHP Billiton Ltd led an increase among miners after metals prices climbed, and a UK regulator set a deadline for a formal takeover bid for Rio Tinto Group. The MSCI Asia Pacific, excluding Japan Index, rose two percent to 524.1 as of 3:38pm in Hong Kong, with all 10 industry groups climbing.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- William Knapp, chief investment strategist for MainStay Investments, says investors should expect the economy to sidestep a recession in 2008, but noted that even if one occurs, "consumers will barely know it happened."

CONSUMER spending in the United States rose more than forecast in November, allaying concern that the slowest shopping season in five years may have already pushed the economy into recession. Purchases gained 1.1 percent after a 0.4 percent increase in October that was more than previously estimated, the US Commerce Department said on Friday in Washington, according to Bloomberg News. Incomes also advanced, while the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation accelerated. While the gain in November spending was the biggest in more than two years, it preceded reports by retailers that warned of a slump in purchases. A private report on Friday showed consumer confidence slid to the lowest level in more than two years in December. Economists forecast spending would rise 0.7 percent, after an originally reported 0.2 percent increase in October.

UNITED States 10-year Treasury note yields have risen to a three-day high on signs that central banks were adding enough funds to the financial system to spur bank lending. Ten-year notes fell on Friday by the most since December 12, paring a weekly advance, as central bank auctions of short-term loans totaling US$64 billion brought down bank-lending rates, fueling optimism the US economy will avoid a recession. Reports this week may show a slide in home prices is deepening. "As we move through 2008, we expect rates to move higher because consumers will prove resilient despite declines in housing, and growth will not fall off a cliff as the market is implying," Michael Pond, an interest-rate strategist in New York at Barclays Capital Inc, one of the 20 primary securities dealers that trade with the Federal Reserve, told Bloomberg News. Ten-year yields rose 12 basis points on Friday, or 0.12 percentage point, to 4.17 percent, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald

By Nadeem Walayat. "The UK economy is being hit hard by the ongoing credit crunch with its sizable financial sector under strain and the UK housing market finally showing signs of the long anticipated downturn after one of the biggest bull runs in history."

Some economists predict the US economy will slide into recession next year. Others expect the nation to avoid recession, if only barely. A few even think the economy will see solid growth. But for many middle- and lower-income families, the distinction won't matter.

WHEN the economy last hit a severe road bump, shortly after we moved into the new millennium, some tried to talk us into recession.