Government And Institutions

A delegation of U.S. lawmakers say a bipartisan congressional agreement on granting President Barack Obama trade promotion authority for a pan-Pacific trade deal is likely this spring.

US stocks opened lower on Wednesday, pulling back from record levels.

Federal Reserve policymakers do not appear ready to start raising interest rates anytime soon, with officials expressing concerns about inflation and lingering problems in the labor market.

Minutes to the Bank of England's last meeting show policymakers voted unanimously to keep interest rates at record lows and to refrain from pumping more money into the British economy.

U.S. employers hired at a stellar pace last month, wages rose by the most in six years, and Americans responded by streaming into the job market to find work.

Denmark's central bank has decided to cut its interest rate on certificates of deposit by 0.15 percentage points to -0.5 percent to keep the krone currency stable against the euro.

Asian stock markets sank Thursday after plunging oil prices and the Federal Reserve's reminder it is still on track to raise interest rates this year led to a dismal day on Wall Street.

A comparison of the Federal Reserve's statements from its two-day meeting that ended Wednesday and its meeting December 16-17: INTEREST RATES: Now: The Fed has dropped any reference to waiting a "considerable time" before raising rates: "Based on its current assessment, the (Fed) judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy." Then: "Based on its current assessment, the (Fed) judges that it can be patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy.

Global stocks drifted Wednesday after weak earnings from several U.S. companies added to global growth concerns as investors waited for the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest statement on monetary policy.

Below is the statement the Fed released Wednesday after its policy meeting ended: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace.

The Federal Reserve's outlook for the U.S. economy is steadily brightening.

As the Federal Reserve ends its latest policy meeting Wednesday, it is widely expected to repeat the pledge it made in December: That it will be "patient" in raising interest rates from record lows.

The Federal Reserve ended 2014 with a pledge to be "patient" in raising interest rates from record lows.

The U.S. dollar has been rolling.

Global stock markets swung higher Thursday, led by a surge in Chinese shares, extending a volatile pattern of sharp sell-offs and rousing gains as investors second guess uncertain prospects for the world economy.

The Labor Department reports on U.S. producer price inflation in December.

The Federal Reserve says it paid the federal government a record $98.7 billion in 2014, a payment that reflects the central bank's earnings from holdings of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities purchased to keep long-term interest rates low to boost the economy.

President Barack Obama has selected the former head of a community bank in Hawaii to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve Board.

As the global economy has weakened, a forcefully stronger U.S. dollar has emerged.

This year showed how sheltered the U.S. economy is from geopolitical and health crises around the world.