AP - The rate of increase in U.S. home prices remained steady in the fourth quarter of 2006, extending the slowing trend that began earlier in the year, federal regulators reported Thursday.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Sunday said he feels good about the U.S. economy and does not see the country slipping into recession.

AP - China's government announced hefty spending increases Monday to boost incomes and improve social services for the urban poor and the lagging, restive countryside this year while guiding the booming economy to more stable growth.

Reuters - New orders at U.S. factories tumbled by a greater-than-expected 5.6 percent in January, the biggest decline in more than six years, on a big drop in aircraft orders, a Commerce Department report showed on Tuesday.

FT.com - Japan's main stock indices ended mildly down on Wednesday, hit by continuing fears over the US economy.

Reuters - Workers filing for initial unemployment benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 328,000 last week, a government report said, to a slightly lower level than Wall Street expected.

AFP - The US economy generated 97,000 jobs in February after a revised gain of 146,000 in January, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate eased slightly to 4.5 percent.

Reuters - China pledged on Monday that 2007 would be another year of extensive financial reform but said there was no quick way to bring down its record trade surplus.

Reuters - Small and mid-sized companies are optimistic about the U.S. economy's prospects in 2007 on the back of brisk first-quarter sales and increased revenue, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

AP - The deficit in the broadest measure of trade set a record for the fifth consecutive year even though the imbalance in the final three months of 2006 shrank, reflecting a lower foreign oil bill.

Reuters - House prices could tumble 10 percent this year and force the United States into recession if a credit crunch taking shape in the mortgage market gathers steam, Merrill Lynch said in research notes this week.

Reuters - U.S. industrial output posted its biggest gain in more than a year, rising a much larger-than-expected 1.0 percent in February, fueled by motor vehicles, high-tech and utilities, a government report said on Friday.

AFP - Mixed signals on the US economy have put the Federal Reserve in a quandary as it tries to steer monetary policy amid fresh inflation concerns but also a slumping housing market, analysts say.

Reuters - The pace of U.S. home construction rose a sharp 9 percent in February but permits for future building slid, according to data on Tuesday that shed little light on whether the housing market was stabilizing.

AFP - The Federal Reserve held a key interest rate steady Wednesday and largely brushed off fears about a downward spiral in the US economy, but also appeared to step back from a threatened rate hike.

AP - An index of future economic growth weakened for the second straight month in February, hobbled by sluggish manufacturing and weakness throughout the housing industry.

AP - Sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose in February by the largest amount in nearly three years, but analysts expressed fears that the recovery for the battered housing industry will be slowed by spreading troubles in mortgage lending.

Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes fell 3.9 percent in February to the lowest rate in nearly seven years while the number of new homes on the market grew, according to a government report on Monday that showed more signs of weakness in the housing sector.

FT.com - The euro was boosted on Tuesday after Germany's Ifo index of business sentiment rose unexpectedly in March, while weakness in the US economy left the dollar under pressure.

FT.com - Shares of heavy exporters fell in response to a stronger yen and fears about the US economy, depressing the Japanese market on Wednesday afternoon.

FT.com - The US economy grew at faster pace than previously thought last quarter, according to government figures.

Reuters - Consumer sentiment fell in March to its lowest in six months as worries about rising prices and slowing income gains weighed amid an uncertain outlook for the economy, a survey showed on Friday.