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US Default on Debt Could Be Disastrous Choice for Economy

WASHINGTON - The United States has never defaulted on its debt and Democrats and Republicans say they don't want it to happen now. But with partisan acrimony running at fever pitch, and Democrats and Republicans so far apart on how to tame the deficit, the unthinkable is suddenly being pondered. The government now borrows...

February Federal Budget Deficit Sets Record

WASHINGTON -- The government ran the largest-ever budget deficit for a single month in February. The shortfall kept this year's annual deficit on pace to end as the biggest in U.S. history. The widening deficit reflects the impact of the tax-cut package President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans brokered in...

Jobs Market Convalescence Could Take a Long Time

The U.S. jobs market may finally be on the verge of an actual recovery, but expect it to come back with a whimper rather than a bang. The Labor Department today said the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance last week was just 368,000. That's the lowest number of weekly jobless claims reported by the...

Bernanke: Mideast Threat to US Economy Is Mild -- For Now

The spike in fuel prices, sparked by Mideast turmoil, currently poses only a mild threat of broader inflation because the ailing U.S. jobs market has kept a lid on wages, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress today. But a continuing rise in the prices of oil and other commodities like steel, cotton and food...

From Farming to Fashion, Inflation Looks to Be on Its Way

The food on your plate, the gas in your tank, the plastic in your children's toys and the clothing on their backs are likely to get more expensive in the coming months in a spurt of inflation that could play havoc with the economic recovery. Consumers haven't yet felt many cost increases in their daily and weekly lives,...