2012 | featured news

Average scores on the ACT exam held steady for the high school class of 2012 but the results show modest progress in the number of students who appear ready for college-level work in math and science.

U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early August to the highest in three months as sales at retailers and low mortgage rates spurred Americans to boost their buying plans, a survey showed on Friday.

Consumer prices were flat in July for a second straight month and the year-over-year increase was the smallest in more than 1-1/2 years, giving the Federal Reserve room for further monetary easing to tackle stubbornly high unemployment.

Americans boosted their spending at retail businesses in July by the largest amount in five months, a surge that could help lift the economy out from its slump. From cars, electronics and sporting goods to furniture, building supplies and garden equipment, every major category of spending rose last month. It was a heartening start to the second half of the year after consumers had reduced their retail spending in each month of the April-June quarter.

OWN, the cable network joint venture of Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, "remains on track" to reach profitability in the back-half of 2013, Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Tuesday. Previously, the company had promised that the network would reach cash flow break-even some time during the second half of next year and then post profits.

New orders for a range of long-lasting manufactured goods fell in June and a gauge of planned business spending plans dropped, pointing to a slowdown in factory activity. The Commerce Department said on Thursday durable goods orders excluding transportation dropped 1.1 percent, the biggest decline since January, after rising 0.8 percent in May. Economists had forecast this category being flat last month.

Three times as many Asian-Americans have run for Congress in 2012 than in the past two elections, a nonpartisan political group says.

It's been a hot year. In fact, the first six months of 2012 accounted for the warmest January-through-June period on record for the contiguous U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday.

New orders for U.S. factory goods rose more than expected in May, a hopeful sign for U.S. manufacturers who have appeared more vulnerable to Europe's festering debt crisis.

Unemployment in the 17-country euro currency bloc hit another record in May as the crippling financial crisis pushed the continent toward the brink of recession, official figures showed Monday.