Economy, Oil | featured news

The global economy has stepped back from the brink of danger and signs of stabilization are emerging from the euro zone and the United States, but high debt levels in developed markets and rising oil prices are key risks ahead, the IMF said on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is weighing the circumstances that could warrant tapping the nation's strategic oil reserve, aware that supply disruptions from Iran could harm the global economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in October to its lowest point of the year as Americans bought fewer foreign cars and imported less oil. Exports of American-made autos also fell.

Oil prices fell below $93 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors mulled whether slowing global economic growth justified a surge in crude this month.

The U.S. economy is on increasingly unsteady footing, hurt by stubbornly high unemployment and volatile oil prices, the head of General Motors Co told reporters on Tuesday.

Brent crude rose towards $120 a barrel and U.S. crude hit a 2-1/2-year high above $108 on Monday as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa kept the focus on oil supplies as economic growth bolstered demand for fuel.

Linking economic growth and energy independence, President Barack Obama says shifting the country away from imported oil and toward cleaner forms of energy will help continue a trend that has led to 1.8 million new jobs in the past 13 months.

Oil prices tumbled 3 percent Thursday, as economists warned that the recent surge in fuel prices will eventually hurt the fragile economic recovery....

U.S. airlines collected $2.56 billion in baggage fees during the first nine months of the year. With industry experts expecting slower economic growth and rising oil prices in 2011, those ancillary fees aren't going anywhere.

Oil threatens to obliterate billions of dollars for the region's fishing and tourism industries.