AP - France's economic growth accelerated in the third quarter as a rebound in exports and consumer spending helped lift gross domestic product after an anemic second quarter.

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications fell for a fourth straight week as a robust rebound in loan refinancings failed to lift activity from more than a 3-1/2-year low, an industry trade group said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment aid plunged by an unexpectedly large 35,000 last week to the lowest level in more than five years, a government report showed on Thursday.

FT.com - The US economy produced an extra 108,000 jobs in December, a solid rate of growth but less than financial markets had been expecting.

Reuters - Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said on Sunday he did not see too much volatility in the yen currency but saw some unwinding of carry trades.

Reuters - China has revised its gross domestic product growth for 2004 to 10.1 percent, in line with a recent upward revision of the size of the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

AP - German finance professionals expressed more optimism about growth in Europe's largest economy because of increased foreign demand for domestic goods, a research group's latest survey released Tuesday showed.

AP - Answering complaints from consumers that cars get fewer miles per gallon than advertised, the government is proposing changes in the way gas mileage is tested.

AP - The U.S. trade deficit improved slightly in November but was still the third highest on record as imports of foreign cars hit an all-time high and America's foreign oil bill remained near record levels. The politically sensitive deficit with China narrowed modestly as shipments of Chinese toys, clothing and other consumer products fell.

AP - Soaring gasoline costs pushed inflation at the wholesale level up sharply in December, ending a year in which wholesale inflation rose at the fastest pace since 1990.

Reuters - After months of explicit guidance on interest rates, the Federal Reserve is about to get a lot more cagey, and markets are already on edge.

Reuters - Alan Greenspan will join the jet-set speakers' circuit when he steps down as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve later this month, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

AP - The nation's industrial output posted a solid increase in December as recovery in production of Gulf Coast oil and gas wells offset a slump in auto manufacturing.

Reuters - U.S. chain store sales rose in the second week of January as consumers continued to purchase seasonal merchandise, a report said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. housing starts fell 8.9 percent in December as single-family house construction tumbled, offsetting an increase in groundbreaking on multifamily units and pointing to further cooling after a five-year boom, a government report showed on Thursday.

Reuters - Fed chairman-nominee Ben Bernanke will maintain the shift toward greater transparency in policy at the U.S. central bank, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday.

Reuters - Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Sunday economic growth for the fiscal year ending March is likely to be higher than the earlier estimate of 7 percent.

AFP - The dollar hit its lowest point against the euro for more than four months on concern about the strength of the US economy and anticipation of an end soon to US rate rises.

AP - Russia's gross domestic product grew by 6 percent in 2005, the head of the Federal State Statistics Service said Tuesday.

AP - China's economy expanded by a stunning 9.9 percent in 2005 according to data released Wednesday that suggests it may now rank fourth-biggest in the world.

AP - A German industry group said Thursday that the German economy will grow by between 1.5 percent and 1.8 percent this year, a prediction that exceeded a cautious government forecast.

Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes expectedly rose 2.9 percent in December as mortgage rates dipped, but home prices fell for a third month and the number of houses on the market hit a record, according to a government report on Friday.

Reuters - Slower-than-expected U.S. growth data at the end of 2005 do not accurately reflect the continued strength of the world's biggest economy, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt said on Saturday.

AP - Philippine economic growth slowed to 5.1 percent last year from 6 percent in 2004, with the manufacturing sector posting its strongest growth since the Asian financial crisis, the government said Monday.

Reuters - Federal Reserve officials sit down on Tuesday to discuss, and mostly likely agree on, raising interest rates for the 14th straight time, but what they say about future moves will not be as straightforward.

Reuters - U.S. chain store sales fell last week, posting their second pronounced weekly decline in a month, according to a report on Tuesday.