2009 | featured news

Some risks remain, but the economy looks set for a fourth-quarter recovery.

The number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims fell more than expected last week and retail sales grew in May for the first time in three months, fresh evidence that the worst of the recession may have past.

Orlando Magic guard Rafer Alston(notes) had the answer for his poor shooting effort in Game 1 of the NBA Finals: It was coach Stan Van Gundy's fault, according to the New York Daily News.

The U.S. unemployment rate was the highest in 26 years, the government said on Friday, but the loss of 345,000 jobs in May, fewer than expected, was seen as a sign that the job market was no longer in free fall.

AP - Many U.S. retailers are reporting sales declines in May as shoppers continue to shop cautiously.

Discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc says it will add more than 22000 jobs in its US namesake stores in 2009.

A realtors' index for pending sales of previously owned homes increased a third month in a row, rising 6.7% in April from March and up 3.2% from a year earlier.

The test firing could come within weeks, possibly when the South Korean president meets with Obama on June 16.

Reporting from Seoul — North Korea has positioned its most sophisticated long-range ballistic missile on a launch pad for a test firing that could come within weeks, a newspaper here reported Monday.

Venus Williams lost in the third round of the French Open for the third straight year, falling to Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-0, 6-4 Friday.

The economy’s decline in the quarter was not quite as bad as the government originally believed, kindling hope that the economy could resume growing by the end of 2009.