Economy

Weekly jobless claims rose by 10,000 for the week ending May 25, in a sign that job losses may be increasing from a five-year low reached this month. Read more...

The U.S. economy grew at a 2.4 percent clip in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday, slightly less than previously estimated.

The growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013’s first quarter, also down slightly from the government’s first estimate, still far outstrips the growth from the last three months of 2012.

Commerce’s latest GDP estimate comes as Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over how to boost the economic recovery, and after high-profile battles in recent months over tax increases and the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration.

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The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday slightly dialed back its projections for economic growth this year.

The OECD, a group of almost three dozen industrial economies from around the world, said that gross domestic product across member countries would rise by 1.2 percent in 2013, before hitting 2.3 percent next year.

As with past projections, the OECD says that the economic troubles in Europe are weighing down the rest of its membership. The economy in the eurozone is projected to contract by 0.6 percent in 2013, before growing by 1.1 percent next year.

Angel Gurria, OECD’s secretary general, said in a statement that the global economy was “strengthening gradually,” but the upturn remains weak and uneven.” Gurria also credited the monetary policies of central banks for helping the recovery.

Paul Volcker, a former head of the Federal Reserve, is starting up a nonpartisan initiative that will examine ways to restore public trust in democracies. 

The Volcker Alliance is aiming to drive discussions on how to change the perception of federal, state and local government in the United States and around the world, the group announced on Wednesday. 

“Trust in American government has been declining for decades,” Volcker said. "And similar attitudes are evident in other democracies."

“Trust rests on confidence, and too often government, at all levels, in the eyes of its citizens, has been unable to respond effectively to the challenges of the day.” 

Alan Krueger at top economic adviser at the White House will leave his Cabinet post to teach again at Princeton University this fall.

Krueger, who has been chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) since November 2011, has seen the economy and labor market through its gradual improvement — unemployment was 8.6 percent when he took the job and it had fallen to 7.5 in April.

"Alan was the driving force behind many of the economic policies that I have proposed that will grow our economy and create middle-class jobs," President Obama said in a statement on Tuesday.   

"He’s devoted his entire career to making sure our economy works for everyone, not just those at the very top," he said.

"And while we have more work to do, today our economy is improving, thanks, in no small part, to Alan’s efforts."

Krueger, whose job is keeping Obama abreast of economic data, is the White House's face of the closely watched monthly jobs report.

He is returning to Princeton where he is a tenured economics professor.

There is talk that Obama will nominate Jason Furman who has been the assistant to the president for economic policy and the principal deputy director on the National Economic Council since Obama took office in 2009.

But no announcement on Krueger's replacement was forthcoming on Monday evening.

Furman has sounded the warning bell on the short- and long-term effects of arbitrary across-the-board spending cuts on the economy.

Anyone nominated to replace Krueger would go through the Senate confirmation process.

The CEA chairmen have a habit of returning to the academic world.

Christina Romer returned to the University of California at Berkeley in 2010 and Austan Goolsbee went back to the University of Chicago in 2011.

Retailers are asking a federal judge to reject a proposed swipe fee settlement that allows Visa and Mastercard to maintain policies they argue drives up prices for consumers.

The National Retail Federation teamed up with a broad cross-section of retailers to file a brief on Tuesday that says the proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit over credit card interchange fees goes nowhere in forcing the companies to lower their fees or keep them from increasing them in the future.

"This is an empty settlement," said Mallory Duncan, NRF's senior vice president and general counsel.

“It fails to address the price fixing that harms merchants and their customers, it takes away retailers’ legal rights to ever try again and it offers virtually nothing in return. It should be tossed out of court as the failure that it is.”

President Obama is expected to nominate Jason Furman to take over as the White House's top economic adviser, according to news reports.

Furman, who has been assistant to the president for economic policy and the principal deputy director on the National Economic Council since Obama took office in 2009, would replace Alan Krueger, as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Bloomberg first reported on Tuesday.

Amy Brundage, a White House spokeswoman, would not confirm the report to The Hill.

Consumer confidence has surged to the highest level since February 2008, before the financial crisis rocked the world economy.

The data suggests the economic recovery could be gaining steam, despite fiscal breaks applied by Congress.

Home prices surged by the largest annual amount in nearly seven years as tight supply continues pushing up prices during the steady market recovery.

Prices were up 10.9 percent year over year in March, the biggest rise since April 2006, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released on Tuesday.

All 20 cities measured by the index posted annual gains for the third straight month and 12 had double-digit annual growth.