Patrice Hill

U.S. oil flow helps keep prices in check as threats rise overseas

America's growing energy independence is paying major dividends this spring, helping to keep a lid on fuel prices despite sudden threats to major global oil supplies in Iraq and Russia that in the past would have sent prices soaring.

June 19, 2014

Fed sees stronger growth in second half

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was upbeat Wednesday about the prospects for stronger growth in the 3 percent range in the second half of the year after the economy took a rare dip in the first quarter.

June 18, 2014

Uninspired growth makes weak recovery one of the longest

The U.S. economic recovery has distinguished itself as one of the weakest since World War II, but at five years and counting, it may go down as one of the longest as well.

June 15, 2014

Coal-mining jobs ‘in free-fall’ after EPA regs

The nation's coal mines are closing down so rapidly in the wake of a raft of federal environmental regulations targeting coal that mining employment is now in a "free fall," according to a new report from a leading industry research firm.

June 12, 2014

May job gains put U.S. over peak set in January 2008

A gain of 217,000 jobs last month sent U.S. total employment past its previous peak of 138.4 million, set in January 2008 just after the Great Recession began, the Labor Department reported Friday.

June 8, 2014

Nuclear industry sees revival with carbon goals

The Obama administration's proposed regulations for power plants would give a big boost to nuclear power as the industry faces an uncertain future with increasing retirements and declining prospects for dozens of aging reactors.

June 8, 2014

U.S. surpassed pre-recession peak in jobs in May

A gain of 217,000 jobs last month sent U.S. total employment past its previous peak of 138.4 million, set in January 2008 just after the Great Recession began, the Labor Department reported Friday.

June 6, 2014

S&P: Fannie, Freddie needed to sustain housing rebound

Standard & Poor's Corp., one of Wall Street's top credit agencies, said Tuesday that the fragile housing recovery cannot continue without support from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two mortgage finance giants many in Congress seem bent on eliminating.

June 3, 2014

Russia’s Putin gains strategic victory with Chinese natural gas deal

In the tit-for-tat economic war between the United States and Russia this year, Moscow has scored a significant victory with its monumental deal to provide natural gas to China, directly challenging U.S. attempts to isolate Russia with economic sanctions.

May 25, 2014

Corporations hoard cash overseas away from high U.S. taxes, have little incentive to reinvest

American corporations seem to be doing just about everything with their record $1.53 trillion in cash holdings except using it to invest and hire in the United States, even though the sluggish economy could use the boost.

May 18, 2014

Power companies bulk up for summer load

As the first day of scorching summer heat set in over Washington, D.C., and the rest of the East Coast Tuesday, the principal power provider in the mid-Atlantic said it has more than enough capacity to handle a hot summer with high demands on air conditioning.

May 13, 2014

Housing’s new woes: Higher costs, interest rates may signal retreat of major economic driver

The nation's battered housing market, one of the last sectors to join the recovery, is faltering again in the wake of rising interest rates, raising fears that it once again may drag down the rest of the economy.

May 12, 2014

U.S. energy giants use crude oil loophole to post record petroleum exports

Even as big U.S. oil companies call for an end to a 1970s-era law banning exports of crude, they are exploiting a loophole that last year enabled them to export record amounts of gasoline and other petroleum products.

May 11, 2014

Strong job growth sends U.S. unemployment rate to 6.3 percent

The nation's unemployment rate plummeted to 6.3 percent last month, the lowest level in 5½ years, as the number of new jobs soared to 288,000, the Labor Department reported Friday.

May 2, 2014

Fed sees no ‘sharp’ slowdown

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday noted the "sharp" slowdown in the U.S. economy in the first quarter, when growth nearly stalled to a 0.1 percent pace, but did not indicate that would change its plans to gradually remove stimulus from the economy.

April 30, 2014

Economy stalls under polar vortex; ‘big snapback’ is critical for spring, expert says

The U.S. economy barely grew in the first quarter of 2014, eking out only a 0.1 percent gain, as the infamous polar vortex this winter chilled activity from construction sites to the malls.

April 30, 2014

‘Help wanted’: Job market shows signs of life for younger workers stalled by Great Recession

Nicholas Rastenis has come a long way from waiting tables and clerking at drugstores to keep body and soul together, as he did for years during and after the 2007-09 Great Recession.

April 27, 2014

Stalemate on the Hill may spare Fannie and Freddie from reform

Stepped-up demands from liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans are threatening the prospects for legislation to revive and reform the private mortgage market, six years after it collapsed and largely disappeared during the Great Recession.

April 21, 2014

U.S. Treasury warns China on currency

In unusually pointed language, the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday warned China and Japan that it is closely watching them out of concern they may be intentionally depreciating their currencies to gain an advantage in trade with U.S. competitors.

April 15, 2014

IMF gives U.S. Congress year-end deadline for passing reforms

The 188 members of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday gave the U.S. Congress until the end of the year to pass reforms giving large emerging countries like Russia and China a greater say in the Bretton Woods Institution, after which they may make plans to reform the IMF without the U.S.

April 14, 2014