[02/01/16]  The American economy finished the year on a flat note, much as it started 2015, stoking concern about its vulnerability in the months ahead to turmoil in China and elsewhere in the global economy.

But most economists expect activity to rebound as the year unfolds and continue to grind out steady but hardly spectacular growth.

Over all, the economy expanded at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Commerce Department said Friday.

It could have been worse: Ahead of the report, a few...

[01/15/16]  Sales at U.S. retailers declined in December to wrap the weakest year since 2009, raising concern about the momentum in consumer spending heading into 2016. The 0.1 percent drop matched the median forecast of 84 economists surveyed by Bloomberg and followed a 0.4 percent gain in November, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington. For all of 2015, purchases climbed 2.1 percent, the smallest advance of the current economic expansion. The slowdown, including electronics stores, clothing merchants and grocers, indicates Americans probably preferred to sock away the savings from cheaper fuel instead of splurging during the holiday season. While hiring has been robust in recent months, faster...

[01/15/16]  Wall Street bled on Friday, with the S&P 500 sinking to its lowest level since October 2014 as oil prices sank below $30 per barrel and fears grew about economic trouble in China. Pain was dealt widely, with the day's trading volume unusually high and more than a fifth of S&P 500 stocks touching 52-week lows. The major S&P sectors all ended sharply lower. The Russell 2000 small-cap index dropped as much as 3.5 percent to its lowest level since July 2013. The energy sector dropped 2.87 percent as oil prices fell 6.5 percent, in part due to fears of slow economic growth in China, where...

[12/2/15]  U.S. private employers boosted hiring in November and wage growth appeared to pick up in the third quarter, signs of labor market strength that could support the first Federal Reserve interest rate increase in nearly a decade later this month. The reports on Wednesday overshadowed slumping manufacturing activity and underscored the economy's solid fundamentals. "The data indicate a steady improvement in the labor market that should support the Fed's confidence that now is the right time to hike rates," said Thomas Costerg, senior U.S. economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. Private payrolls increased 217,000 last month on top of the 196,000 jobs added in October, the...

[11/18/15]  Housing starts in the United States fell to a seven-month low in October, weighed down by a steep decline in the construction of multifamily homes. A surge in building permits, though, suggested that the housing market remained on solid ground.

Groundbreaking dropped 11 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.06 million units last month, the lowest level since March, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

October was the seventh consecutive month that starts remained above one million units, the longest stretch since 2007. Building permits increased 4.1 percent to an annual rate...