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Second-quarter economic growth was revised to an anemic 1.6%, a decline that was slightly less than many economists had predicted. But the report was a sobering cap to a week of bad economic news that has raised fears the nation could plunge into another recession.

On Friday, the government will offer crucial evidence when it reports on second-quarter economic growth. This will be the first in a series of indicators in the coming weeks that could help answer whether the economy has achieved cruising speed, in particular whether the private sector is growing fast enough to put unemployed Americans back to work. Forecasters are expecting that gross domestic product rose at a rate of 2 to 2.5 percent rate in the April-through-June quarter, which would be too slow to drive down the jobless rate.

President Barack Obama acclaimed a government report on Friday that showed the economy expanded at a 3.2 percent rate in the first quarter, saying it was an "important milepost on the road to recovery."

The burst of energy the economy showed at the end of last year isn't likely to be repeated anytime soon.

The U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime says nearly 60% of Afghans regard corruption as their biggest worry, outpacing concerns about the insurgency or joblessness.

Endemic corruption in Afghanistan amounts to a virtual tax on poverty-stricken Afghans, robbing them of the equivalent of a quarter of the war-wracked nation's annual gross domestic product, a new U.N.

The downward revision, to 2.2 percent growth from 2.8 percent, was partly because shoppers did not spend as much and construction was weaker than first thought.

India's economic growth surged in the third quarter at a much faster pace than expected, increasing odds that the central bank will raise interest rates to head off inflation.

The government reported that output of goods and services grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, which was faster than expected. But it will be months before job-seekers feel the benefits.

The economy sank at a pace of 0.7 percent in the spring, a better-than-expected performance that provided more evidence that the recession was ending.

Report is better than analysts expected; new jobless claims, total benefit rolls also drop.