Signs grew that the economy could turn even weaker in 2009, as an index of December manufacturing activity sank to its lowest point in 28 years. Every corner of the sector was down, from bakeries to cigarette-makers to aluminum smelters. ...more

January 3, 2009

Retailers are suffering through one of the most difficult holiday seasons in years, slashing prices by 70 percent and 80 percent and offering other deals in a desperate effort to ring up more sales. ...more

December 24, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - This season's greeting: Try to have a happy holiday. Glum economic tidings are reshaping the more than century-old tradition - and big business - of sending holiday cards. ...more

December 21, 2008

Mortgage application volume more than doubled during the shortened Thanksgiving week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey. ...more

December 4, 2008

Online retailers are ramping up heavy-duty deals to turn skittish shoppers into "Cyber Monday" spenders. ...more

December 1, 2008

Online retailers are ramping up heavy-duty deals to turn skittish shoppers into buyers during the crucial Thanksgiving weekend and "Cyber Monday" - but even so, online sales are expected to be fairly flat after years of strong growth. ...more

November 30, 2008

David Taylor's story shows that recent economic forces can drive out even the most conscientious, sophisticated and successful local retailers. ...more

November 28, 2008

Sales of existing homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in September, a real estate trade group said Friday. The data is a possible glimmer of hope that the housing slump could be starting to bottom out. ...more

October 25, 2008

The Port of Tampa along with nine other U.S. seaports accounted for 83 percent of the American cruise industry's passenger traffic last year, the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group in Fort Lauderdale, said in a new report. ...more

October 22, 2008

Holiday sales are expected to grow at the slowest pace in six years as shoppers worry about jobs, the housing and stock markets and high gas and food prices, according to a forecast from the National Retail Federation being released Tuesday. ...more

September 23, 2008