Demand for manual transmissions among U.S. drivers is on the rise, an industry research group said. Ironically, just as automakers figured U.S. drivers were not interested in manual transmissions, the demand for stick shifts has returned, researchers at Edmunds.com said. The so-called take...

The U.S. Census Bureau said homeownership has fallen to 65.4 percent, the lowest rate since 1997. The percentage of homeowners in the first quarter fell 1 percentage point from the same period of 2011. Concurrently, vacancy rates for rental properties fell from 9.7 percent in the first quarter...

Construction spending rose slightly month-to-month in March, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday. Total construction spending reached $808.1 billion, down from the downwardly revised estimate of $807.3 billion in February, the bureau said. Spending for March was 6 percent above March 2011,...

Weaker foreign demand slowed manufacturing growth in Britain in April, research group Markit said Tuesday. Markit said Britain's Purchasing Managers Index slid after hitting a 10-month high in March. The index remained positive, as numbers above 50 indicate growth, but the pace of growth...

U.S. manufacturing grew in April for the 33st consecutive month, growing at a faster pace than March, supply executives said Monday. The latest Manufacturing Institute of Supply Manager's Report On Business registered 54.8 percent, climbing above March, when the index was at 53.4...

U.S. stocks regained some lost ground Tuesday after a closely watched manufacturing index showed business growth faster than expected. The Institute of Supply Management said the Purchasing Management Index for April came to 54.8 percent. Economists had expected a more subdued 53 percent...

The price for crude oil topped $105 per barrel Tuesday with stocks mixed in Asia and mostly lower in Europe. The dollar index remained flat Tuesday morning, rising 0.04 percent to 78.79 on the International Exchange following Monday's rise of 0.08 percent. On the New York Mercantile...

Where was the International Labor Organization going to sit when it came to figuring out a strategy to get economies moving again? If your bias is jobs — and whose bias is not jobs? — then you measure the approach to solving the world's economic mess by counting jobs. That...

Streaming video service Hulu says viewers will soon have to prove they are a pay-TV customer to watch their favorite shows, sources told the New York Post. Under the new “authentication” model viewers would have to log in with their cable or satellite TV account number to view...

Gold prices added 60 cents Monday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending the session at $1,665.40 per troy ounce. Silver shed 37 cents to close at $31.03 an ounce. The euro fell to $1.3237 from Friday's $1.3253, while the British pound was $1.6232 from...

Funds set the tone on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday with buying that sparked a late rally, offsetting a bearish crop progress report. Corn was up 4 1/2 to up 9 3/4, soybeans were up 6 1/4 to up 17, wheat was up 3 3/4 to up 5 1/2 and oats were up 1 to up 3 3/4. Funds bought 10,000 corn...

The International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, said putting budget reform ahead of economic improvement has backfired around the world. “Fiscal austerity combined with labor market deregulation will not promote employment prospects in the short term. In general, there is no...

Lawyers in Alaska are wrangling over the possibility of continuing a shareholder lawsuit against executives of oil giant BP, court papers show. The case is known as a “shareholder derivative” action, because shareholders filed the case on behalf of the company against the...

A third of U.S. workers indicated in a recent poll that Social Security would be a major portion of their post-retirement funding, Gallup researchers said. Researchers said the poll, conducted April 9-12 involving 1,016 adults, found that 33 percent of respondents indicated they expected...

Scandals at News Corp. have likely derailed the firm”s efforts to expand in Britain and Turkey, The New York Times reported Monday. News Corp.”s attempt to buy the remaining 60 percent of British Sky Broadcasting that it doesn”t own has been at least disrupted by an...

U.S. stocks slipped Monday after Spain said its economy fell 0.3 percent January through March — the second consecutive quarter of contraction. The report in Madrid sent stocks lower in Europe because it meant Spain, along with Britain, was back in recession. In early-afternoon trading,...

U.S. retail giant Walmart said the firm would stick with expansion plans despite recent allegations of bribes in Mexico meant to speed up expansion there. Despite investigations into the company's behavior in Mexico, “We remain committed to opening stores all across the United...

Consumer spending rose 0.3 percent in March, down from February's 0.8 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said Monday. Spending was up by $29.6 billion in March. Personal incomes rose by $50.3 billion or 0.4 percent. Disposable incomes rose by 0.4 percent, $42.5 billion, the agency...

U.S. stocks slipped early Monday after Spain said its economy fell 0.3 percent January through March — the second consecutive quarter of contraction. The report in Madrid sent stocks lower in Europe because it meant Spain, along with Britain, was back in a recession. In midmorning...

The price for crude oil slid close to $104 per barrel Monday, with stocks in Europe lower on dour economic news from Spain. The government in Madrid said the fourth largest economy in Europe contracted 0.3 percent for the second consecutive quarter. That put Spain in a recession. Last week,...

Canada's gross domestic product declined by 0.2 percent in February, led by decreased mining and oil and gas activity, Statistics Canada reported Monday. Overall mining declined 7 percent, with output at potash and nickel mines reduced by temporary shutdowns, the report said. Oil and gas...

If a civil service worker in Spain losses his or her job — and the odds are good it would be a forced retirement — the chances of replacing that worker are nearly zero. With the exception of police officers, the government is whittling down the share of workers who are public...

Tech companies such as Apple are avoiding paying some taxes by building offices in states and countries with lower or zero taxes, The New York Times reported. Apple built an office in Reno, Nev., to collect and invest the company”s profits, and by doing so, the company sidesteps...

It's that time of the year when the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds tell us what we already know and don't want to hear — both are going to run out of money if Congress doesn't act to shore them up, either by increasing contributions or cutting...

Airplane maker Boeing rolled out its first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner to an assembled crowd of executives, dignitaries and workers, the company said. Boeing announced it would assemble planes at the South Carolina site in 2009 and broke ground on a new facility there in November of...

U.S. regulators said they have moved to an engineering phase of an investigation into third-row seat rust in 2004 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the investigation has been upgraded to an “engineering analysis,”...

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said the state has reached a tax agreement with Amazon.com to bring the Internet retailer in line with sales tax laws. The company agreed to provide 2,500 jobs and invest $200 million in capital projects in the state. Amazon.com, which is based in Seattle, also...

A U.S. government report blames a rogue engineer at Google for writing code that collected private information about millions of Internet users. Google has released the Federal Communications Commission report with only private names redacted, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Google...

Amazon's Kindle Fire has captured 54.4 percent of the tablet market for Android operating systems, digital business trackers comScore Inc. said Saturday. The tablet that was introduced to the market in November has almost doubled its share in the past two months, the firm said. Two...

Chinese officials say they're eager to resume stalled economic talks with the United States. Chinese and U.S. officials will meet in Beijing May 3-4 for the fourth round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The U.S. delegation will be led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton...