Economic Meltdowns

Analysis: Economy to show stamina as global growth slows

2011-12-22T21:30:06Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy is gaining momentum and should push through next year with only a few bruises despite an almost certain European recession and slower global growth.

A firming in the anemic labor market should put the economy in reasonable shape to withstand headwinds from overseas, although the recovery will likely slow at the start of the year after a ...

Surprise 0.6% growth in third quarter

2011-12-22T11:30:32Z

Britain's economy showed unexpectedly strong growth of 0.6 percent in the third quarter, official data revealed on Thursday, but the country still faces possible recession in the new year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revised higher its estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth between July and Se...

Britain surprises with stronger growth

2011-12-22T10:30:24Z

Britain's economy showed unexpectedly strong growth of 0.6 percent in the third quarter, official data revealed on Thursday but the country still faces possible recession in the new year.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revised higher its estimate for gross domestic product (GDP) growth between July and Sep...

Analysis: For euro zone, a year of deleveraging dangerously

2011-12-22T07:30:14Z

LONDON (Reuters) - With governments laboring under too much debt and banks hobbled by too little capital, 2012 is shaping up as another year of hard slog for Europe's economy that could yet test the single currency to destruction.

The Netherlands on Thursday became the ...

Spain's austerity leader Rajoy names cabinet

2011-12-21T19:31:03Z

Spain's new leader Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday named a team to steer the country out of crisis, with a former manager of ruined bank Lehman Brothers in the key economy minister job.

Rajoy named Luis de Guindos, 51, to the crucial post to spearhead urgent reforms aimed at getting Spain's five million u...

Existing home sales jump in November

2011-12-21T07:30:33Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of previously owned homes surged in November, but revisions to data for the last four years showed the housing market recession was deeper than previously thought.

The National Association of Realtors said on Wednesday existing home sales increased 4 perce...

BOJ keeps policy on hold but cuts economic view

2011-12-20T20:00:08Z

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept monetary settings unchanged on Wednesday but cut its assessment of the economy on mounting evidence of the pain Europe's debt crisis is inflicting on global growth and Reuters) - Oracle Corp's profit missed Wall Street's forecasts for the first time in a decade after new software sales sputtered, hammering its shares and stoking fears that a global economic slowdown is hurting tech spending.

Shares in t...

Revenues up for state, local governments

2011-12-20T13:00:11Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tax revenues of U.S. state and local governments rose in the third quarter, the U.S. Census said on Tuesday, marking the eighth straight quarter of growth and heralding the promise of continued economic recovery in areas where revenues collapsed during the recent recession.

Revenues totaled $292 billion, rising 4.1 percent over the third quarter of 2010 to their highes...

German economic data bring sparkle to eurozone gloom

2011-12-20T09:30:34Z

Two leading sentiment indicators in Germany surprised on the bright side here on Tuesday, bringing a rare touch of Christmas sparkle to the pall of gloom hanging over the eurozone.

The Ifo economic institute said it was bringing "good tidings" with the announcement that its closely watched business sentiment index defied analysts' expectations for the second month in a row and rose to 10...

Many Rhode Island cities can't escape money woes

2011-12-19T12:00:20Z

(Reuters) - The coming year will not bring much relief from the financial woes dogging cities and counties in Rhode Island, primarily because of a snarl of public pension problems, Moody' s Investors Service said on Monday.

"Local governments in Rhode Island are experiencing economic weakness, revenue stagnation and pension expense growth that are m...

Europe economic crisis a chance to go green: Denmark

2011-12-19T09:30:37Z

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Denmark said Europe's financial crisis was the chance to transform the region into a much greener economy as it set out priorities Monday for its forthcoming European...

New Spanish leader pledges deep crisis cuts

2011-12-19T08:30:32Z

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's incoming Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy took aim at his country's economic woes Monday, promising deep spending cuts at all levels of government while offering tax breaks for companies.

It was a salv...

Italian budget in home stretch, unions on warpath

2011-12-18T15:00:05Z

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's austerity budget, vital to get Rome's accounts in order and help save the euro from collapse, enters its final stretch this week, with unions still mounting roadblocks to its path.

The 33 billion euro ($43 billion) package of cost cuts and new taxes was pass...

Government to split up banks in 2019

2011-12-18T13:30:36Z

The government will Monday accept in full recommendations to split banks' retail and investment units in a bid to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis, business minister Vince Cable said.

A report by the government-appointed Independent Commission on Banking, published in September, recommended measures to protect retail operations as part of sweeping reforms to be brought in by 2019.

The radical overhau...

Eurozone bank failures could cause U.S. credit squeeze: Kaufman

2011-12-18T10:00:10Z

(Reuters) - Euro-zone bank failures could lead to a credit squeeze in the United States, hurting an already subpar U.S. economic recovery, warned the well-known Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman.

A deterioration in the European financial system "could cause some of t...

Trade finance drying up amid financial crisis

2011-12-17T16:30:09Z

Trade finance is drying up amid the financial crisis, threatening jobs and economic growth, trade sources warned Saturday.

Banks like Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas -- two of the 25 financial institutions most active in such financing -- have recently reduced their trade financing business, said a trade source on the sidelines of...

Regulators sue former top Fannie, Freddie execs

2011-12-16T14:00:17Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sued by U.S. regulators on charges of misleading investors about the mortgage finance companies' exposure to risky home loans in the run-up to the 2008 fin...

Monti wins vote on Italian austerity package

2011-12-16T09:30:11Z

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government easily won a confidence vote on its tough austerity package on Friday, the first step in parliamentary approval for sweeping measures aimed at saving the euro zone's third-largest economy from financial disaster.

The Chamber of Deputies app...

US business sees hope at home, gloom abroad

2011-12-15T18:30:26Z

Something is stirring in corporate America. Heading into 2012, years of nervous uncertainty about the fate of the world's largest economy has been replaced with a slightly different form of nervous uncertainty.

"We're probably not moving into a double-dip recession," said Brian Derksen, deputy CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the global advisory firm.

"The ge...

France to enter recession, 1% growth target hopeful: INSEE

2011-12-15T18:30:25Z

France will fall into a brief recession and the government's 2012 growth target of 1.0 percent will be difficult to achieve, the official INSEE statistics agency warned Thursday.

INSEE said it expects France to enter a mild recession in the final quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2012.

...

ECB chief says euro zone on right track

2011-12-15T09:00:07Z

BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's top central banker said on Thursday that euro zone governments are on the right track to restore market confidence but reminded the...

German manufacturing shrinks for 3rd month in December: PMI

2011-12-15T03:00:06Z

BERLIN (Reuters) - German manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in December and looked unlikely to provide a lift to Europe's largest economy soon as new orders continued to dry up, a survey showed on Thursday.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sec...

Analyst says job gains are on the horizon in valley

2011-12-15T02:30:19Z

OPTIMISM IS NOTHING NEW

Southern Nevada is experiencing the end of its four-year economic decline and has begun to show economic growth, with "slight upward" job gains on the horizon due to an ongoing increase in tourism, said Stephen Brown, director of UNLV's Center for Business and Eco...

German manufacturing shrinks for 3rd month in December - PMI

2011-12-15T02:00:10Z

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sec...

Asia Q4 corporate sentiment falls on global worries: poll

2011-12-14T20:00:11Z

SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - Business sentiment among Asia's top companies slid in the fourth quarter to its lowest in two years, with executives rattled by rising costs and fears over where the global economy is heading.

The Reuters Asia Corporate Sentiment Index fell to 57 in the fourth quarter from 63 i...

IMF says Greece must move faster on reforms

2011-12-14T14:00:22Z

ATHENS (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund stepped up pressure on Greece on Wednesday, saying promised reforms were behind schedule in most areas and the delays were stalling recovery from years of recession.

Greece, crushed under debt amounti...

UK Conservatives take poll lead after EU veto

2011-12-14T05:00:16Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Conservatives have overtaken the Labour opposition in an opinion poll for the first time this year, enjoying a bounce from Prime Minister David Cameron's veto of a new Prime Minister Mario Monti defended his proposed austerity measures to lawmakers before they go to parliament on Wednesday, warning that Italy is in the middle of a debt "emergency".

"The alternative would be a worsening of the sovereign debt crisis that would bring not a recession but the destruction of Italians' wealth," Monti said at a meeting of parliament's budget and financ...

Obama on 2012: 'We're going to win this thing'

2011-12-13T15:30:45Z

US President Barack Obama confidently predicted he would overcome tough odds and win his 2012 reelection fight Tuesday, selling the premise of his campaign to influential donors.

"Here is my message to you. You guys stick with this. If you don't falter, if you stay steady we are going to win this thing," Obama told Democratic fundraisers in Washington as his bid for a second Hong Kong has overtaken the United States and Britain to rank top in a World Economic Forum survey on countries' financial health published on Tuesday.

Strong scores in non-banking financial services such as initial public offering (IPO) activity...

Analysis: Growth to bear brunt of euro crisis cure

2011-12-13T10:30:33Z

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's economic prospects next year are so bleak that 2011, for all the euro's agonies, has every chance of being remembered fondly.

In forging a fiscal compact that aims to put the single currency on a firmer long-term footing, euro zone leaders have s...

City of Las Vegas gives raises during a recession

2011-12-13T02:31:49Z

Unlike many of my Fourth Estate pals, I try to give government the benefit of the doubt. Sure, I have a certain cynicism imbued after a quarter-century of covering politics. But I don't default to the position that all politicians are inherently corrupt or all public employees are overpaid sloths or all government spending is obviously wasteful.

That's just so facile, so bereft of nuance or contemplation. So, I try to give politicians, staffers and, yes, government a chance.

...

Europe must do more to end crisis: Canada c. bank

2011-12-12T20:30:34Z

The head of Canada's central bank on Monday welcomed European efforts last week to address a deepening debt crisis but warned of much pain ahead for the eurozone and said EU nations must do more.

European Union leaders from 26 of the 27 member states at a two-day Brussels

Obama challenges rivals on US income inequality

2011-12-11T21:30:18Z

US President Barack Obama on Sunday hit back at critics who say he is trying to redistribute wealth, and challenged his Republican opponents to deal with growing income inequality.

In an interview with the CBS News program "60 Minutes," Obama countered rivals...

China workshops struggle, but tougher times ahead

2011-12-11T20:30:30Z

BEIJING (Reuters) - A broad and bruising downturn is sweeping through China's giant manufacturing sector, ensnaring thousands of factories already fighting for survival in the face of plunging profit margins.

While the misery has not yet reached levels seen in 2008 when global financial turmoil caused tra...

Bayer CEO eyes falling margins in drugs, plastics

2011-12-11T11:30:10Z

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer expects to see falling profit margins in drugs and plastics as the euro debt crisis sends tremors through economy, chief executive Marijn Dekkers told a German newspaper.

"There is an increasing trend towards cost-cutting on medic...

Risk-shy banks may prompt credit pinch: EU watchdog

2011-12-11T07:00:12Z

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Banking Authority (EBA) has warned lenders against being so risk-averse as to prompt a credit crunch.

It also said regulators would not allow a cut in lending as a means to meeting regulatory capital targets.

Banks have changed their behavior far more than the public has realized in the wa...

Swiss economy may tip into recession: economist

2011-12-10T17:30:10Z

The Swiss economy could tip into recession this winter, a noted economist warned in a newspaper interview published Saturday.

Growth slowed in the third quarter to only 0.2 percent over the previous three months, amid a drop in exports blamed on the strong Swiss franc, which is seen as a safe-haven currency in times of financial turmoil.

"It is quite conceivable that we will observe two negative (growth) quarters," Aymo Brunetti, chief economist of the State Secr...

US praises progress in EU debt summit

2011-12-09T20:30:25Z

The United States on Friday said signs of progress in the fight to end the eurozone debt crisis were "a good thing" but added that work remained to be done.

"There has been some progress and that's a good thing," said White House spokesman Jay Carne...

China's stone workshops silenced by European crisis

2011-12-09T07:00:24Z

DANGCHENG, China (Reuters) - Mournful ancient Roman lovers, a boy Mozart and half a dozen angels lie in weeds behind the padlocked gates of an abandoned sculpture workshop in Dangcheng town, victims of economic waves rippling across the world to this corner of northern China.

...

Oil Prices

2010-12-31T13:31:55Z

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2010 file photo, a gas pump nozzle is shown, in Portland, Ore. Oil prices slipped further below $90 a barrel Friday. Dec. 31, 2010, as investors took profits amid light year-end trading volume. Despite the fall, oil prices are set to end the year around 12 percent higher than where they started _ a clear signal that the global economy has returned to growth following the worst recession since World War II .(...

Germany Cars For Christmas

2010-12-22T03:30:37Z

FILE - In this March 8, 2010 file photo, workers put the final touches on Volkswagen Golf vehicles in the company's factory in Wolfsburg, Germany. Germany's leading carmakers made the rare move of cutting holidays short as 2010 draws to a close to meet a surge in demand that is contributing to the nation's strong economic rebound from the r...

Travel Florida Tourism

2010-12-17T10:02:06Z

This Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 photo shows crews as they work along Pensacola Beach removing deposits of crude oil from under the sand in Pensacola, Fla. Gulf oil spill clean up crews are still working in some areas on the Panhandle. The lingering economic recession, a record cold Florida winter and the effects of the Gulf oil spill stalled the...

Tax Cuts

2010-12-16T23:00:21Z

In this photo rendered from video via C-SPAN, shows the final vote tally on the bill to avoid income tax increases on Jan. 1. Acting with uncommon speed, Congress moved toward final passage Thursday night Dec. 16, 2010 of sweeping, bipartisan legislation to avoid a Jan. 1 spike in income taxes for millions and renew jobless benefits for victims of the worst recession in 80 years. (AP Photo/C-S...

France EU Budget

2010-12-15T09:31:30Z

Members of the European Parliament vote to adopt their budget for 2011, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg eastern France, Wednesday Dec. 15, 2010. The budget was a controversial 2.9 per cent spending increase in the midst of a Europe-wide recession and drastic national austerity mea...