Economy News Headlines

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors will grapple next week with major U.S. economic reports and the looming possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone, which is likely to keep dragging on equities for weeks to come. As contingency plans are made for Greece's possible departure from the euro zone, investors may not get a …

As Greece creaks under its untenable debt and a shrinking economy, the possibility that it could stop using the euro is becoming increasingly likely. The effects of such a move would be as quick as they would be brutal for ordinary Greeks, who would essentially take a 50-percent pay cut just as prices soar.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Health-conscious Californians may mostly oppose smoking for its costs to public health and the economy but an aggressive tobacco industry campaign and general anti-tax sentiment may block a measure to raise taxes on smokers. Airwaves in the most populous U.S. state are filling up with advertising …

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States and Japan must tackle their tax issues and China must relax restrictions on the yuan, as they share responsibility with Europe for restoring global economic health, EU leaders said ahead of a June summit of the G20 leading economies. In a letter addressed to all 27 European Union nations, …

Local governments in Colorado may soon see the fruits of an improving state economy as Governor John Hickenlooper announced this week the reinstatement of the Energy and Mineral Impact Assistance program. Here are the details.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for a second day on Friday on the lack of progress in negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program, but crude futures posted a fourth straight weekly loss as Europe's debt problems threatened economic growth and petroleum demand. Euro-zone political turmoil and economic uncertainty …

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Friday:

LONDON (Reuters) - Weak British gross domestic product data this week strengthens the case for more Bank of England stimulus, but this has to be weighed against above-target inflation, BoE policymaker Martin Weale said on Friday. Revised official data this week showed that Britain's economy contracted by 0.3 percent in …

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian economy probably expanded at a significantly slower rate in the first quarter than the Bank of Canada had predicted in January, and in fact its spare capacity may have risen, a Reuters survey of analysts showed on Friday. The median forecast of an annualized growth rate of 1.8 percent compared …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors will grapple next week with major U.S. economic reports and the looming possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone, which is likely to keep dragging on equities for weeks to come. As contingency plans are made for Greece's possible departure from the euro zone, investors may not get a …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tunisia's economy is showing signs of revival after popular protests last year pushed it into recession but the crisis in the euro zone, its most important export market, presents risks, a senior IMF official said on Friday. The International Monetary Fund has just completed its first review of Tunisia's …

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked his oil and gas minister, citing his poor performance on state television on Friday, just two days after the Central Asian nation agreed landmark deals to supply natural gas to Pakistan and India. The deals agreed on Wednesday offer major economic benefits …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tunisia's economy is showing signs of revival after popular protests last year pushed it into recession but the crisis in the euro zone, its most important export market, presents risks, a senior IMF official said on Friday. The International Monetary Fund has just completed its first review of Tunisia's …

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday that rising consumer confidence in North America is a more important economic signal than the recent depreciation of the Canadian dollar. "I think consumer confidence is what's important," Flaherty told a reporter from Business News Network television …

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said Thursday that even during the Great Recession, growth in the outdoor recreation industry has provided a boost to the economy.

The head of the global banking lobby which handled the private debt write-off for Greece warned on Friday that if the country leaves the eurozone, the world economy would suffer badly.

LONDON (Reuters) - Copper was little changed on Friday after hitting 4-1/2-month lows this week because of uncertainty over Europe's economic prospects and the potential exit of Greece from the euro zone, which weighed on the single currency. LME copper was at $7,644 a tonne by 1452 GMT, 0.4 percent up from the close at …

(Reuters) - Europe's economic slowdown has hit the engine-room of the euro zone, including Germany, gloomy new indicators have revealed, adding urgency to the region's struggle to keep Greece's debt crisis from tearing the single currency apart. So far, the 17-nation euro zone's downturn has been confined mainly to its …

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Economic growth in South Africa is expected to have slowed to 2.4 percent in the first quarter from 3.2 percent in the previous quarter due to a slump in the mining and manufacturing sectors. Twelve economists see GDP growth braking to 2.2 percent on an annual basis in the first three months of …

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone on Friday indicated that a planned flotation of the sport on the Singapore stock exchange may have to be delayed due to the global economic crisis.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stocks and the euro eased on Friday after the Spanish economic dynamo of Catalonia said it needed help to refinance its debt, adding to financial troubles in Spain, which is already weighed down by a capital-constrained banking sector. The euro plumbed a fresh 22-month low against the U.S. dollar …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iran and world powers agreed to meet again next month to try to ease the long standoff over its nuclear work despite achieving scant progress at talks in Baghdad towards resolving the main sticking points of their dispute. At its heart is Iran's insistence on right to enrich uranium and that economic …

LONDON (Reuters) - The potential fallout from a Greek exit from the euro zone and worries about the global economy weighed heavily on financial markets on Friday, snuffing out a tentative rally in stocks and setting up a mixed outlook for Wall Street's open. U.S. stocks futures pointed to gains on the broad S&P 500 index …