Reuters - U.S. construction spending jumped 0.9 percent in March, more than twice expectations, to a record high on the back of soaring outlays on private residential building, a government report showed on Monday.

AP - The nation's service sector managed to withstand rising energy prices in April, expanding in yet another sign of the economy's persistent strength, a private survey of supply managers said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The U.S. consumer price index may move higher as the U.S. housing market slows and the rental market strengthens, Federal Reserve Board Governor Susan Bies said on Thursday.

Reuters - Huge oil company profits fueled debate among European finance ministers on Friday of a windfall tax on firms, some of which banked anything up to $1,000 per second in recent months as world crude prices hit new records.

Reuters - Warren Buffett's acquisition of a majority stake in an Israeli engineering firm for $4 billion sparked hopes on Sunday that more foreign investors will follow suit.

Reuters - Central bank heads from leading industrialized and developing countries met on Sunday to confront potential threats posed by global imbalances and inflationary risks from rising commodity and asset prices.

Reuters - U.S. chain stores reported a rise in sales during the first week of May, but at a slower pace as retail stores reported mixed results, a report said on Tuesday.

AP - The statement by the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee explaining its decision Wednesday to raise a key interest rate.

AP - Consumers, spurred by a late Easter and warmer than usual weather, pushed retail sales up by a solid amount in April although the increase was below what analysts had been expecting.

AP - Escalating demand for ethanol will push corn prices higher this year, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

AP - Nepal is in a deep financial crisis with the government running out of cash and revenue growth below zero, the finance minister said as he appealed for urgent international help.

Reuters - A U.S. Treasury Department spokesman declined on Monday to comment on a newspaper article saying U.S. economic policy makers are "quietly acquiescing" to a slide in the dollar to help shrink the U.S. trade gap.

AP - Wholesale prices leaped ahead by the biggest margin in seven months, propelled largely by soaring energy costs. That didn't daunt U.S. industry, where production jumped by 0.8 percent, the most since December.

AFP - Asian businesses have emerged as key players in the US economy, chalking up an annual combined revenue of 326 billion dollars, the US Census Bureau said.

AP - The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits rose sharply last week mainly due to the lingering effects of a partial government shutdown in Puerto Rico, which caused worker layoffs.

AP - France's economy grew by a 0.5 percent in the first quarter, the state statistics agency said Friday, thanks in part to a pickup in consumer spending. But the growth was slower than the 0.6 percent expansion forecast by analysts.

AFP - The US economy is set to grow by a robust 3.6 percent in 2006, but the Federal Reserve should increase interest rates, the OECD said as it issued a stern warning about high deficits, deep trade imbalances and low savings.

Reuters - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods tumbled an unexpectedly large 4.8 percent in April while mortgage applications fell last week, a pair of soft economic reports showed on Wednesday.

AP - Sales of existing homes fell in April, and the price posted the smallest increase in 4 1/2 years, new signals that the nation's once red-hot housing market has cooled.

Reuters - Core U.S. inflation advanced 0.2 percent in April and overall prices shot up a steep 0.5 percent, according to a government report on Friday that financial markets will parse closely for clues on Federal Reserve interest-rate moves.

Reuters - Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations were not seeking a weaker dollar through a recent statement, Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki reiterated on Sunday, adding that adjustments in currencies alone would not resolve global imbalances.

Reuters - U.S. inflation is high enough to warrant close attention to prevent inflation expectations from building, Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow said on Tuesday.

Reuters - Chief executives of small- and mid-sized companies expect the rapid pace of U.S. economic growth this year will slow in the second half amid tightening labor markets and rising costs, according a survey released on Wednesday.