GM filed paperwork for an IPO that could potentially be worth as much as $20 billion, short of the $50 billion bailout tab.

President Obama is turning his focus squarely toward the economy as the traditional campaign season begins.

Obama used his Labor Day weekend address to defend his economic record and vow to “keep fighting” for the middle class.

The nation's service sector, a major employer, continued to grow for the eighth straight month in August although at a slower pace than expected, as employers pulled back their hiring. 

The service-sector index fell to 51.5 last month, the lowest reading since January, down from 54.3 in July, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday. 

Levels above 50 mean the sector is growing. The index hit its lowest level of 37.2 in November 2008.

The report is another indicator that the economy as slowed through the summer although data have been mixed. 

A majority of Americans say former President George W. Bush is mostly responsible for the nation's protracted economic downturn. 

In a USA Today/Gallup poll released Friday, 71 percent said Bush should get most of the blame, down from 80 percent who blamed the former president for the recession in July 2009. 

About half — 48 percent — say President Obama, who has been in office for 20 months, should get a great deal or moderate part of the blame, up from 32 percent a year ago. 

But 51 percent say he's dealing with problems he inherited — not created — saying he deserves not much or none of the responsibility for nation's economic troubles. 

When asked across party lines, Republicans by a 4-to-1 margin were more likely to say Obama should shoulder most of the blame over Bush. 

Democrats by a 20-to-1 margin targeted Bush for the nation's economic problems. Only 3 percent said Obama bore a great deal of the blame. 

A new Tea Party tracking poll showed that 71 percent of likely voters and 76 percent of independents believe a tax increase of at least 10 percent will occur over the next decade if federal spending is not curbed. 

Democrats pounced Friday on a top Republican's suggestion he knew of plenty of spending cuts to pay for the extension.

The Small Business Administration turned $680 million into nearly $30 billion in loans that helped save or create hundreds of thousands of jobs. 

SBA Administrator Karen Mills is urging passage of a small business bill stalled in the Senate arguing that additional funds provided by the 2009 economic stimulus provided about 70,000 loans, she said Friday in a blog post on the White House's website. 

Mills said she was surprised to hear recent comments made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the pending small business legislation is “a little itty-bitty small business bill that no one thinks will have much of an impact on the economy.”

Data compiled by the American Payroll Association (APA) shows nearly 140 million tax returns will be hit with a tax hike if Congress fails to extend a slew of tax cuts set to expire in less than four months.