AP - The 'worst is behind' for Japan's once moribund economy but neighboring China must do more to balance its breakneck growth rate and allow its currency to be more flexible, U.S. Undersecretary of Treasury Tim Adams said Wednesday.

AP - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but still remained at a level indicating a healthy labor market.

AP - The European Commission on Friday raised the upper end of its economic growth forecast for the first quarter in the 12 nation-region which shares the euro as its currency.

Reuters - New orders at U.S. factories fell 4.5 percent in January, slightly less than expected but still the biggest drop since July 2000, as orders for durables, machinery, computers, and aircraft fell, a government report showed on Monday.

Reuters - U.S. chain stores reported slow sales in the first week of March as heavy rain hampered retail shopping, a report said on Tuesday.

Reuters - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday community banks should improve the way they manage risks, given a growing reliance on commercial real estate lending and "some easing" in standards for those loans.

Reuters - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to 303,000, the highest level since the start of the year, a government report showed on Thursday.

Reuters - U.S. employers added a stronger-than-forecast 243,000 jobs in February and average hourly pay posted the largest annual increase in 4-1/2 years, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report likely to keep inflation concerns simmering.

Reuters - Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Sunday it was too early to discuss when the Bank of Japan could begin raising interest rates, but said it would eventually have to happen to normalize the economy.

Reuters - Senior central bankers gathered on Sunday to review the global economy days after Japan scrapped a five-year-old super-loose monetary stance in a move expected to affect financial markets worldwide.

AFP - The dollar drifted lower against the other major currencies as traders locked in some of last week's greenback gains and awaited new data on the US economy.

AP - German finance professionals' optimism about prospects for Europe's biggest economy declined in March for a second month in a row after reaching a two-year high in January, a report released Tuesday showed.

Reuters - U.S. economic activity increased across the country in January and February, with businesses feeling continued input cost pressures, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

AP - Inflation slowed sharply in February as food costs moderated and the price of gasoline, natural gas and other energy products posted big declines.

AP - Industrial production grew by 0.7 percent in February, with all of the strength coming from a big pickup in output at utilities. Factory production was flat.

AP - Higher prices for oil and energy pushed German producer prices up in February at the fastest annual rate in nearly 24 years, according to government figures released Monday.

FT.com - The US dollar pushed higher in European morning trade on Tuesday after Ben Bernanke, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, delivered an address on the US economy broadly adjudged to be upbeat.

Reuters - Consumer demand for home mortgage loan applications fell last week to the lowest level this year despite a marked drop in interest rates, as industry trade group said on Wednesday.

AP - Sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose last month as a warmer than usual winter boosted demand in many parts of the country, a real estate trade group reported Thursday.

Reuters - Two U.S. senators behind a bill threatening sanctions on China for failing to loosen its currency said on Saturday it was in China's best interests to move to a freely floating currency.

AP - China's economy is expected to grow 8.9 percent in 2006, slowing from 9.9 percent last year, the central bank's research department said in a report published Monday.

Reuters - U.S. chain store sales fell in the latest week for the second week in a row due to the late Easter holiday and a lack of Spring-like weather in much of the U.S., according to a report on Tuesday.

AP - German consumer confidence surged amid rising optimism about the nation's economic outlook, a closely watched survey showed Wednesday.

AFP - The US economy expanded at a 1.7 percent pace in the fourth quarter of 2005, in a slight upward revision of its previous estimate of 1.6 percent growth.

Reuters - New orders at U.S. factories rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2 percent in February, as robust civilian aircraft and defense capital goods orders outweighed declining demand for primary and fabricated metals, machinery and electrical equipment, a government report showed on Friday.