NEW YORK - April 15, 2011 - Gold rose to a record in New York on speculation that the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe will worsen, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative to currencies. Silver touched a 31-year high.

WASHINGTON - April 15, 2011 – U.S. consumers paid more for food, gas and rent last month, but outside those categories inflation remained tame.

DETROIT, Michigan - April 15, 2011 - The emergency manager appointed to put Detroit's troubled public school system on a firmer financial footing said on Thursday he was sending layoff notices to all of the district's 5,466 unionized employees.

In a statement posted on the website of Detroit Public Schools, Robert Bobb, the district's temporary head, said notices were being sent to every member of the Detroit Federation of Teachers "in anticipation of a workforce reduction to match the district's declining student enrollment."

WASHINGTON - April 14, 2011 - The percentage of Amerikans who have jobs has fallen to the lowest point in three decades and now hovers just above 45% of the total population, according to an analysis of labor data published by USA Today.

The report, based on figures provided by the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that at 36.7%, Mississippi had the lowest percentage of population working.

WASHINGTON - April 14, 2011 - The world's banks face a $3.6 trillion "wall of maturing debt" in the next two years and must compete with debt-laden governments to secure financing, the IMF warned on Wednesday.

Many European banks need bigger capital cushions to restore market confidence and assure they can borrow, and some weak players will need to be closed, the International Monetary Fund said in its Global Financial Stability Report.

NEW YORK - April 14, 2011 - Stocks slid Thursday after claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly for the first time in three weeks.

WASHINGTON - April 13, 2011 - The federal government ordered 17 mortgage lenders and servicers on Wednesday to reimburse homeowners victimized by improper foreclosures.