NEW YORK - April 1, 2010 - Initial claims for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits fell last week to the lowest level this year, the government said Thursday in a report signaling improvement in the troubled labor market.

WASHINGTON - April 1, 2010 - Amerikans anxious about unemployment and the economy increasingly blame illegitimate President Obama for hard times, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, amid signs of turbulence in November's midterm elections.

DUBLIN, Ireland - March 31, 2010 - The Bank of Ireland laid bare the depth of its crisis today as it reported a fall of nearly €3 billion (£2.6 billion) into the red in the first nine months of its financial year.

NEW YORK - March 29, 2010 - Kalifornia, New York and other states are showing many of the same signs of debt overload that recently took Greece to the brink - budgets that will not balance, accounting that masks debt, the use of derivatives to plug holes, and armies of retired public workers who are counting on benefits that are proving harder and harder to pay.

NEW YORK - March 29, 2010 - By the end of 2010, half of all commercial real estate mortgages in the United States could be "underwater," according to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program watchdog.

WASHINGTON - March 29, 2010 - The Treasury Department said Monday it would begin selling the stake it owns in Citigroup, Inc., which could result in a profit of more than $8 billion.

WASHINGTON - March 24, 2010 - The bursting of the real estate bubble and the ensuing Depression have hurt jobs, home prices, and now Social Security.