WASHINGTON, May 23- A top Republican senator on Thursday said that Commerce Secretary nominee Penny Pritzker had satisfactorily answered most of his questions about her role in the failure of an Illinois bank and her family's use of offshore tax havens.
Major business events and economic events scheduled for Friday:. WASHINGTON _ Commerce Department releases durable goods for April, 8:30 a.m. Eastern. BERLIN _ Germany's Ifo institute releases its monthly index of business confidence, a closely watched indicator for Europe's biggest economy.
WASHINGTON, May 23- U.S. economic growth should rise to 3.25 percent next year as the drag from tight fiscal policy in Washington fades, New York Federal Reserve staff economists said in a report on Thursday.
WASHINGTON, May 23- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington. Outside that, there is going to be little support to growth, "said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
NEW YORK, May 23- Investors' hair-trigger reaction to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on Wednesday marks a delicate new policy phase for the U.S. central bank in which communication is paramount.
May 23- On Wednesday in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke presented congressional testimony that repeated, virtually word for word, statements about U.S. monetary policy he has been making since last September. The speculation spread to Tokyo Thursday.
WASHINGTON, May 23- The U.S. government will require meat packers to explicitly list the origin of beef, pork and chicken sold in U.S. grocery stores, it said on Thursday, a regulation intended to resolve years of disputes with Canada and Mexico.
WASHINGTON, May 23- A tax on carbon dioxide emissions could help the United States mitigate climate change while significantly increasing government revenue, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this week.
*Calls on Europe to rethink push toward austerity. WASHINGTON, May 23- The United States on Thursday called on Europe to act decisively to boost its economy and counter the risk of a protracted stagnation that would undermine economic growth in America.
NEW YORK, May 23- The yen broke recent trends and jumped against the dollar and the euro on Thursday after a slide in stocks sparked by a drop in Chinese factory activity prompted a rush for the safe-haven Japanese currency.
WASHINGTON, May 23- The United States on Thursday called on Europe to act decisively to boost its economy and counter the risk of a protracted stagnation that would undermine economic growth in America.
WASHINGTON, May 23- Meat packers will be required to explicitly list the origin of beef, pork and chicken sold in U.S. grocery stores, the government said on Thursday, a regulation intended to resolve years of disputes with Canada and Mexico. Meat from other countries could carry labels such as, for example, "Born in Mexico, Raised and Slaughtered in the United States."
WASHINGTON, May 23- Sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose 2.3 percent in April, and prices climbed to record high levels, offering strong proof the sector's rebound trend is intact. The Commerce Department said on Thursday sales increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 units.
*France pushing to exempt culture from talks with US. BRUSSELS, May 23- European Union lawmakers voted on Thursday to limit the scope of a proposed free-trade deal between Europe and the United States, backing French demands to leave out culture and potentially irritating Washington.
SAN FRANCISCO/ DUBLIN, May 23- Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest country, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Apple must have seemed attractive to Ireland and to Cork.
WASHINGTON, May 23- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington.
WASHINGTON-- President Barack Obama's spokesman says the White House is facing "legitimate criticisms" for its shifting accounts about who knew what about the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups, and when they knew it.
WASHINGTON, May 23- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, pointing to resilience in the labor market despite belt-tightening by Washington.
The Massachusetts Democrat has an agreement with Henry Holt and Company for a book, currently untitled, to be released in spring 2014, the publisher announced Wednesday. She will describe her work on creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and her opposition to powerful interests in Washington and on Wall Street.