Economy, Double-dip Recession | featured news

Figures released Wednesday provoked an outcry on the day that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, shifted his rhetoric on the debt crisis.

Chances the United States will lapse into another recession rose over the past month to nearly one in three as the economy faces a number of road blocks that could derail already weak growth, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

Another recession isn't likely over the next 12 months. Neither is any meaningful improvement in the economy.

The Federal Reserve Board has promised to keep interest rates at zero until 2013-- an admission that the economy is not expected to rebound for two years-- until the next President is in the White House. This policy step indicates the Fed does not believe the economy will recover either this year or next year. Never before has the central bank made such a policy declaration for as long a period as two years.

Consumers spent more on autos, furniture, clothing and gas in July, pushing up retail sales by the largest amount in four months. The gain signaled that Americans are a little more confident in the economy and could helped dispel fears that the country is headed for another recession....

More than $2.5 trillion have been wiped off the value of world stocks this week on mounting concerns the global economy is heading toward another recession.

A sequel to the Great Recession in the United States just two years after the downturn is not likely because demand for temporary workers, a leading indicator of both upturns and downturns, remains steady, staffing industry executives say.

European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny does not expect the U.S. economy to enter a double-dip recession and is more concerned about fast-growing developing markets, he told a newspaper.

Second-quarter economic growth was revised to an anemic 1.6%, a decline that was slightly less than many economists had predicted. But the report was a sobering cap to a week of bad economic news that has raised fears the nation could plunge into another recession.

Buying activity in the residential real estate market slowed dramatically in July, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. The dramatic plunge is yet another sign the U.S. economy may be heading toward a slowdown or double-dip recession.