The housing collapse and credit crisis will slow economic growth and nudge up unemployment next year, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday in a first-of-its-kind forecast that some economists think will lead to interest rate cuts early in 2008. ...more

November 21, 2007

Construction of single-family homes in October skidded to the lowest level in 16 years although the slide was cushioned somewhat by a rebound in apartment building. ...more

November 21, 2007

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that economic growth will slow noticeably in coming months while surging oil costs will raise inflation pressures. But he said the economy is nowhere close to the stagflation nightmare of the 1970s and he predicted an economic rebound by mid-2008. ...more

November 9, 2007

As oil prices climb toward the once unthinkable $100 a barrel level, fears that the U.S. economy could tip into recession also are rising. ...more

November 2, 2007

The economy picked up speed in the summer, growing at a brisk 3.9 percent pace, the fastest in 1 1/2 years and an impressive performance even as a credit crunch plunged the housing market deeper into turmoil. ...more

November 1, 2007

New home sales posted an unexpected increase in September. Analysts, however, viewed the small gain as highly questionable given the severe credit crunch that rocked the housing industry this summer. They predicted further sales declines before the worst housing slump in more than two decades comes to an end. ...more

October 26, 2007

Faced with soaring oil prices, a falling dollar and the worst credit crisis in nearly a decade, the masters of global finance have a simple message for jittery markets: Be calm, we are keeping an eye on things. ...more

October 21, 2007

The global economy should grow soundly this year and next, but the persistence of a credit crunch that has unnerved financial markets worldwide could throw a wrench in the works. ...more

October 18, 2007

A growing number of people say the economy is the nation's top problem, with the less educated among the most worried, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed Tuesday. ...more

October 9, 2007

Fears that the country could slide into a recession eased in September as employers created the most jobs in four months and workers' wages grew solidly. The unemployment rate crept up to 4.7 percent, the highest in more than a year but still low by historical standards. ...more

October 6, 2007