Business News

THE LATEST: The nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent August and employers slashed jobs for the eighth month in a row.

WASHINGTON - The nation's unemployment rate bolted above the psychologically important 6 percent level last month for the first time in five years — and it's likely to go even higher in the months ahead, possibly throwing the economy into a tailspin as Americans pick a new president.

WASHINGTON - Americans' productivity soared in the spring while labor costs declined, two welcome outcomes that should relieve concerns that inflation is getting out of hand.

FRANKFURT, Germany - The European Central Bank and Bank of England will likely leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday as they face mounting inflation and slowing growth.

WASHINGTON - Construction spending took a bigger-than-expected tumble in July as housing activity dropped to the lowest level in seven years and nonresidential activity fell for the first time in seven months.

(REUTERS) - Stock index futures pointed to a jump on Wall Street on Monday after the government seized control of major mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

LONDON (AFP) - European and Asian stock markets surged Monday after the US government grabbed control of ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, easing fears of a world financial crisis, dealers said.

LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets surged in early trading on Monday, mirroring sharp gains won across Asia after the US government seized control of ailing mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

TOKYO - Asian stock markets soared Monday after Washington announced a bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — a move that could help bolster a shaky U.S. housing market and renew global investor confidence.

NEW YORK - Wall Street finally got what it's been angling for: a bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could aid a recovery of the broken U.S. housing market and arrest a slide in stock and credit markets worldwide.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., - National Semiconductor Corp., which makes chips that regulate power and perform other functions in gadgets, reported Friday its first-quarter profit fell 7 percent from a year ago due to a higher tax rate.

In the recent round of earnings reports, a number of solar industry executives said solar panel demand and prices next year might hold up better than expected.

WASHINGTON - SeaChange International Inc. reported fiscal 2009 second-quarter results that beat Wall Street's estimates late Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Video game publisher Take Two Interactive Software made a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on strong "Grand Theft Auto 4" sales, but cut its current-quarter outlook due to the delayed release of a new game.

LOS ANGELES - Toll Brothers Inc. said Thursday it swung to a loss in its fiscal third quarter as weak demand for new homes forced the luxury builder to mark down the value of its land and unsold homes.

SINGUR, India (AFP) - Opposition activists in eastern India on Monday abandoned their siege of a Tata Motors factory set to build the world's cheapest car after striking a deal to end violent protests against the plant.

WASHINGTON - Auto industry allies hope to secure up to $50 billion in government loans this month that would pay to modernize plants and help struggling car makers build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

WASHINGTON - The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems in an effort to better inform doctors and patients.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expensive advertising of prescription drugs directly to consumers may do little to encourage sales, U.S. and Canadian researchers reported on Monday.

OSLO (AFP) - Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is threatening legal proceedings against Norwegian telecom operator Telenor to force it to transform their joint Bangladeshi subsidiary into a "social business" aimed at helping the poor.

Well, it didn't have quite as many fireworks as Senator Barack Obama's performance in Denver last week -- either the real kind or the rhetorical kind. And it lacked the dramatic tension of the national debut of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. But in a low-key, at times passionate, speech on Sept. 4, Senator John McCain officially joined the fight against Obama as he accepted the nomination to become his party's standard bearer before an enthusiastic crowd at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Houses in Sunnyvale, Calif., home to companies such as Juniper Network (NasdaqGS:JNPR - News), AMD , and Yahoo! (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News), are typically on the market for 66 days, making it the fastest-selling real estate market in the country. That's the good news. The bad news is that listings a year ago in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb normally sold after just 31 days on the market.

As career choices go, the hotel business isn't one that will put new college grads on the path to riches. With few exceptions, new employees can expect an annual salary of less than $40,000, a figure that has barely budged in recent years. So when Marriott International visited the University of Delaware campus on a recruiting trip, it didn't wave a big wad of cash in front of Claire Pignataro. It didn't have to. It had already hooked her with something she considered far more valuable: a chance to help run a hotel.

NEW YORK - The government's historic bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday will be good news to homebuyers and some homeowners hoping to refinance if it leads to lower mortgage rates, as experts expect.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's seizure of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is potentially a $200 billion bet that it will help reverse a prolonged housing and credit crisis.

TOKYO/BASEL (Reuters) - China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, praised Washington for its rescue of the ailing mortgage giants, but investors had no illusions the bailout would end the global credit market misery.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Shares in Asian banks soared on Monday after the U.S. government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , reassuring investors worried about exposure to the mortgage giants' bonds and the value of other risky debt assets.

EVERETT, Washington/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co's 27,000 machinists prepared for a third day of strike action, halting production at the plane maker's Seattle-area plants in protest at Boeing's contract offer and what they see as plans to shift more jobs to non-union and foreign companies.