Bernanke pledges Fed support, but notes limits
(CNNMoney) - Federal Reserve policymakers will take a closer look next month on what steps they can take to jumpstart the stalled U.S. economy, but Fed Chairman Ben Benanke warned Friday that Congress better help too.
In a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the chairman announced that a one-day meeting of the Fed, originally set for Sept. 20, is being expanded to two days "to allow a fuller discussion" of what the Fed should do to respond to "disappointing" growth.
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July jobs report: Hiring picks up
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - The job market strengthened in July, a welcome piece of good news that sharply contrasted other recent data pointing toward an economic slowdown.
Employers added 117,000 jobs last month, easily topping the 75,000 gain economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted. And the unemployment rate improved slightly to 9.1 percent.
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What ever happened to tax reform?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Legislators finally agreed on an eleventh-hour plan to raise the debt ceiling on Sunday, but one part of the debate was left out of the final draft - tax reform.
Deficit reduction of up to $2.4 trillion was the centerpiece of the deal to raise the nation's borrowing limit, which passed Congress this week after months of debate. But the deal accomplishes that only through spending cuts, not an increases in tax revenue, as Democrats had pushed for.
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Who would follow Geithner?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Timothy Geithner said Thursday that he plans to stay on as Treasury Secretary for the foreseeable future. But that hasn't stopped speculation about who might take his place later this year.
Sources told CNN and other news outlets Thursday that Geithner is considering leaving the Obama administration later this year, once negotiations on raising the government's debt ceiling and cutting the budget deficit are complete.
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Economy adds 244k jobs in April
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - The jobs recovery picked up speed in April, as business payrolls swelled and the unemployment rate rose as more people returned to the workforce.
The economy added 244,000 jobs in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That's up from the 235,000 jobs gained in March. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney were expecting a slight slowdown to a gain of just 185,000 jobs.
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March jobs report: Jobs gain, unemployment falls
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - The job market continued to improve in March as strong business hiring took the unemployment rate to its lowest level in two years.
The economy gained 216,000 jobs in the month. That's better than the gain of 180,000 predicted by economists surveyed by CNNMoney, and also a significant improvement over the 194,000 jobs added in February.
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February jobs report: Unemployment falls again
New York (CNNMoney) - The jobs outlook brightened in February, as strong business hiring helped trim unemployment to its lowest level in nearly two years.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.9% last month, from 9.0% in January, the best reading since April of 2009. The unemployment rate has now fallen nearly a full percentage point in the last three months, the most rapid improvement in nearly 28 years.
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Auto bailout's estimated cost to taxpayers: $19 billion
New York (CNNMoney) - A Congressional oversight panel says that a "starkly improved" outlook for the auto industry has reduced the likely taxpayer loss on the bailout by more than half to about $19 billion.
The previous estimate from the panel was that taxpayers would lose $40 billion of the $81.3 billion given to the automakers and their finance arms from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
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Bernanke: Recovery finally taking hold
New York (CNNMoney) - The U.S. economic recovery is finally getting stronger, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday morning.
Bernanke, in remarks prepared for testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, said there is increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold.
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Stimulus has big price tag
(CNNMoney.com) - How much does it take to shock the U.S. economy back to life? Almost $1 trillion a year.
Since the recession began three years ago, the total tally of Congress' efforts to jumpstart the economy has reached a total of $2.8 trillion.
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