NEW YORK (PNN) - June 25, 2011 - A drum beat of disappointing data about consumer behavior, factory sales and weak hiring in recent weeks has prompted economists to ratchet down their 2011 economic forecasts to as little as half what they expected at the beginning of the year.

Two months ago, Goldman Sachs projected that the economy would grow at a 4% annual rate in the quarter ending in June. The company now expects the government to report no more than 2% growth when data for the second quarter is released in a few weeks.

NEW YORK - June 23, 2011 - The number of Amerikans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, suggesting little improvement in the labor market this month after employment stumbled badly in May.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 9,000 to 429,000, the Department of Labor said Thursday.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - June 23, 2011 - Saab, the Swedish car company renowned for its sometimes quirky designs, moved closer to bankruptcy Thursday after it conceded that it didn't have any money to pay employees' wages.

After months of production stoppages and problems with paying suppliers, Saab said the situation is so dire that it won't be able to pay its 3,700 employees, raising doubts over how long the brand can survive.

NEW YORK - June 23, 2011 - In less than 40 years, India will overtake the U.S. as the world’s second-largest trading nation, pushing today's superpower into third place and Europe into the little leagues, according to a new report by Citigroup.

CHICAGO, Illinois - June 23, 2011 - Teenage robbery mobs are at it again on North Michigan Avenue.

Some 50 young people barged into a Walgreens at Michigan and Chicago on the Magnificent Mile on Tuesday afternoon. They took bottled drinks and sandwiches off the shelves, then ran off, CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports.

WASHINGTON (PNN) - June 23, 2011 - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the illegitimate Obama regime believes taxes on small business must increase so the regime does not have to “shrink the overall size of government programs.”

The illegitimate regime’s plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses is part of its plan to raise taxes on all Amerikans who make more than $250,000 per year - including businesses that file taxes the same way individuals and families do.

WASHINGTON - June 22, 2011 - U.S. state and local governments will need to raise taxes by $1,398 per household every year for the next 30 years if they are to fully fund their pension systems, a study released on Wednesday said.

The study, co-authored by Joshua Rauh of Northwestern University and Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Rochester, both of whom are finance professors, argues that states will have to cut services or raise taxes to make up funding gaps if promises made to municipal employees are to be honored.