Business and Finance news

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the central bank needs a clear low- rate commitment or a third round of purchases of Treasuries and mortgage bonds to further stimulate a still struggling economy.
People outside the Fed have

Restrained spending by consumers held growth in the U.S. economy to a 2.8% annual pace in the fourth quarter, slower than economists forecast while still the fastest pace in more than a year.
Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, climbed at a 2.8 percent annual pace following a 1.8 percent […]

A national strike fueled by widespread dissent over spiraling gas prices paralyzed Nigeria on Monday, as tens of thousands of protesters took over the empty streets to criticize government corruption in one voice.
Protests remained largely peaceful across the country on the strike’s first day, though a police shooting in Lagos left one dead and four […]

Asian stock markets were mostly lower Thursday amid new signs of pressure on Europe’s banking system and a downturn on Wall Street.
Benchmark oil lingered above $99 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro but fell against the yen.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.7 percent to 8,367.73. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 0.9 […]

Yemen’s outgoing president said Saturday he would leave the country for the United States to help calm tensions in his country as forces commanded by his son and nephew opened fire on more than 100,000 protesters marching into the capital, killing at least nine.
The protesters had marched on foot for four days from the city […]

Amgen Inc. is laying off about 380 employees in research and development as it restructures its R&D operations.
The biotech company, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., says the layoffs are targeted to enable the company to better allocate its research and development resources.
Company spokeswoman Christine Regan says the affected employees were notified Wednesday. They work at […]

Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe in coming weeks.
So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses _ including up to 16 deaths _ in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in more […]

ST. LOUIS

U.S. stock futures are falling as anxious traders await a key report on hiring and employment in August.
The Labor Department reports at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on the number of jobs created in August. Economists surveyed by FactSet expect that the economy added 93,000 jobs, not enough to reduce the 9.1 percent unemployment rate.
Global markets sank […]

Japan’s parliament elected former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as the new prime minister on Tuesday _ the country’s sixth leader in five years.
A fiscal conservative, Noda faces a host of daunting problems, including the post-tsunami recovery and nuclear crisis, and a sluggish economy and the yen’s surge, which hurts Japan’s exporters.
Noda, who was elected Monday […]