Economy

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• Weekly Jobless Claims Keep Up Steady Move Lower

  

  The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to its lowest since the early days of the 2007-09 recession, a hopeful sign for the sluggish labor market.

• Obama Picks Mary Jo White to Lead SEC

  

  President Obama nominated Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, tapping an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform.

• Gov. Sam Brownback: Make Kansas Income Tax Free

  

  Kansas lawmakers have received a bill to inch the state closer to eliminating income taxes, a key part of an agenda that many Republicans hope will serve as a model of conservative governance.

• The Odd Season: Good Earnings, Nervous CEOs

  

  Many corporations are tempering their earnings beats with more than a dollop of caution about the outlook for 2013, which is barely 3 weeks old.

• Merkel Says Europe Must Persist With Reforms

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged European nations to continue the economic reforms they have begun and argued that the debt crisis offered an opportunity for the bloc to become more competitive.

• Economy Fueled by 'Energy Revolution,' Housing: Hormats

  

  Growth in the U.S. economy will be aided by the domestic "energy revolution" and the pick-up in the housing market, Under Secretary of State Robert Hormats told CNBC on Wednesday.

• What John Paulson Says Is the Best Investment Now

  

  More than four years after the financial crisis that made him billions, hedge-fund manager John Paulson is bullish on the U.S. economy and housing in particular.

• House Votes to Suspend Debt Ceiling Until May

  

  With tacit support from President Barack Obama, the GOP-controlled House approved an extension of the debt ceiling Wednesday, heading off an economy-rattling fiscal crisis for at least four months.

• JPMorgan CEO Hits Back at Policymakers in Davos

  

  JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has hit back at policymakers and new regulations, telling CNBC in Davos that some of the rules had made things more complicated and that many of the problems had still not been fixed.

• US Mortgage Applications Up for Third Week

  

  Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week for the third week in a row, boosted by increased demand for refinancings,data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

• Budget Deficit Not Our Only Deficit: Lawrence Summers

  

  Lawrence Summers told delegates at the World Economic Forum that the U.S. was right to focus on its budget deficit, but should also make the most of "negligible" long term interest rates to improve healthcare and education.

• US Economy a Bright Spot: Expert 

  

  Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, tells CNBC why he's positive about the U.S. economy in 2013, despite political uncertainty.

• Morici: Obama's Climate Plan Has Put the US Economy in a Straight Jacket

  

  President Obama has declared the U.S. must respond to the threat of climate change; however, his plan will likely hasten the pace of global warming according to this academic.

• GOP Moves to Suspend Debt Ceiling Until May

  

  House Speaker John Boehner indicated Tuesday that Republicans will vote on an extension of the federal debt ceiling to allow Treasury to borrow money until mid-May. The move would reverse the order of a series of expected debt and spending fights in Washington, an effort designed to put the GOP on more sound political footing.

• Labor to Private Equity: We Are Part of Solution

  

  For the first time in recent years, policymakers don't have a major financial crisis to grapple with at this year's World Economic Forum (WEF), which gets under way on Wednesday.

• Think CEOs Are Growing More Confident? Think Again

  

  CEOs, many of whom are gathering in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for this year's World Economic Forum, are feeling less optimistic about their companies' growth prospects than last year or the year before, PwC said Tuesday.

• Consumer Sentiment Deteriorates to 1-Year Lows

  

  U.S. consumer sentiment fell for a second straight month to hit its lowest in over a year in January, with a record number of consumers citing the recent "fiscal cliff" debate in Washington, a new survey showed.

• Mid-Atlantic Business Activity Drops: Philly Fed Index

  

  Factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracted in January, a survey showed.

• What Will It Take to Get the Fed to Stop Easing?

  

  "Europe has stabilized, the (U.S.) economy is going better, yet the Fed has this super-accommodative policy in place," said Joe LaVorgna, chief US economist at Deutsche Bank. "It doesn't make sense, but they're stuck with it."

• New Foreclosures Near Six-Year Low in December: RealtyTrac

  

  Foreclosure activity in the United States was at a near six-year low in December and declined over the entire year as the housing market continues to recover.