Retail sales unexpectedly rose in February as shoppers ignored blizzards across much of the country, the Commerce Department said Friday, the latest data raising hopes that consumers can power an economic recovery despite concerns about high unemployment. Retail sales climbed 0.3% vs. January, the most in three months, the Commerce Department said. Wall Street had expected a 0.2% drop. Sales ex au...

When car and gas sales were excluded, the gain was 0.9 percent, raising hopes that confidence was growing.

Consumers remain pessimistic even as the stock market recovers, but history suggest that’s not such a bad thing.

Janet L. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is thought to favor keeping rates low.

Issues like inflation and interest rate policy played roles in the administration putting forth names like Janet L. Yellen to be considered for the bank’s board of governors.

Skepticism is high that Republicans would agree to raise revenues, or that Democrats would slash spending on programs like Medicaid, but economists called for both actions.

A new report on weekly filings for first-time jobless claims was the latest indication of a slow recovery in the labor market.

Wholesale inventories declined 0.2 percent in the first month of the year, as businesses remained cautious about restocking their depleted shelves.

The question is whether the U.S. is prepared to lead or whether protectionist pressures will make it impossible to engage fully with trading partners.

The main purpose of the agency, sometimes referred to as the National Institute of Finance, would be to flag problems in the industry before they spread and threaten the wider economy.

Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said, which was somewhat better than December, when 43 states reported higher jobless rates.

The Federal Reserve has ended nearly all of the lending programs it created in 2007 to combat the credit crisis, but in the coming months it must decide when and how to tighten monetary policy.

Democrats, who seem to be on a relentless quest to pass a health care bill, don’t seem to grasp the issue truly important to Americans: jobs.

President Obama’s health reform plan is a mixed bag for those who care about keeping down medical costs.