Economy, U.s. Debt Limit | featured news

Growth in retail sales stalled in August after a pitched battle over spending in Congress led consumer confidence to crumble, data showed on Wednesday.

The hard-won, last-minute agreement to raise the debt ceiling and cut the deficit gets low ratings from Americans, who by more than 2-1 predict it will make the nation's fragile economy worse rather than better.

British and Japanese officials warned Sunday of disastrous consequences for the global economy if last-minute talks among lawmakers in Washington failed to agree on raising the U.S. borrowing limit and averting a debt default.

As the nation stood Friday on the edge of a historic default and markets sank amid grim economic news and the legislative chaos, President Obama called on both Democrats and Republicans to abandon their favored debt-ceiling plans and come together to find a last-minute deal.

The latest evidence on the economy suggests that the tense standoff between Congress and the Obama administration over raising the debt ceiling is coming at a terrible time — not in a period of robust or even passable growth, but at a time the U.S. economy is barely eking out any expansion at all.

President Obama said Friday Congress has a "unique opportunity to do something big" and stabilize the U.S. economy for decades by cutting deficits ...

The International Monetary Fund urged U.S. lawmakers Wednesday to raise the nation's borrowing limit. It warned that inaction could lead to a spike in interest rates that would harm the U.S. economy and world financial markets....

Democratic leaders called on Wednesday for new spending and tax cuts to boost the sluggish U.S. economy, setting up a fresh hurdle for bipartisan efforts to head off a government debt default this summer.