Economy, Economic Recovery | featured news

Sales of new homes dropped a record 32.7 percent in May to the lowest level in at least four decades as the boost from a popular tax credit faded, adding to worries of a slowing economic recovery.

The stock market rebounded Wednesday after a stronger-than-expected increase in pending home sales restored investors' optimism about the economy.

New data indicate the American economy is continuing to recover despite the European slowdown.

Two senior Federal Reserve officials were upbeat Monday about the U.S. economic recovery despite the worsening debt crisis in Europe, but gave no indication the Fed is anywhere near raising interest rates.

Stocks tumbled for a second day Friday after concerns grew that the deep spending cuts under Europe's bailout plan would slow a global recovery.

Retail sales and industrial production in April both enjoyed continued growth, reinforcing the sustainability of the economic recovery in the United States. On Friday the U.S. Commerce Department reported retail sales gained 0.4% in April, ahead of Wall Street’s expected 0.2% rise, but below the 2.1% jump in March. Peter Newland, economist at Barclays Capital, notes that the total was driven by a 0.5% increase in both autos and gasoline, and a 6.9% jump in building material sales. All of that is nice, but core sales, which exclude these elements, actually fell 0.2%, which is much weaker than excepted.

While improving, the job market still has a long way to go before it can be counted on to provide a base for a sustained economic recovery.

Signs of a recovery in the U.S. labor market grew on Wednesday as data on the private sector labor market showed job gains for the first time since January 2008.

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 number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped for a second consecutive week, further evidence that the job market is slowing improving.