Patrick Temple-West

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for January dropped to 74.2, revealing that consumers are concerned about rising prices beyond food and energy goods, according to the survey released Friday.

Real gross domestic product expanded 3.2% at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, boosted by the strongest consumer spending growth in more than four years as consumption expenditures dropped to a record low, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims surged by 51,000 to a three-month-high of 454,000 during the week ended Jan. 22, as new filings delayed by bad weather poured in from the Southeast, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims increased 51,000 to 454,000 for the week ending Jan. 22, the highest level in three months, as snow storms in the Southeast caused a backlog of claims, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Raleigh, N.C., is issuing $114.5 million of triple-A-rated water and sewer revenue bonds Thursday, bolstering city utility resources that have been constrained in recent years by the national recession and a regional drought.

The Federal Reserve affirmed its plan to purchase $600 billion of Treasury bonds through June, while holding the federal funds target rate in the zero to 0.25% range, the Federal Open Market Committee announced Wednesday.

New home sales exceeded economist expectations in December, but remained well below their historical norm as they jumped 17.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a proclamation last week setting a date for the next governor’s election to be on Oct. 4, fulfilling a requirement by the state Supreme Court of Appeals.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve affirmed its plan to purchase $600 billion of Treasury bonds through June, while holding the federal funds target rate in the zero to 0.25% range, the Federal Open Market Committee announced Wednesday.

New home sales jumped 17.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000 in December as the median sale price rose and the months’ supply tumbled, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on Friday released a pension reform plan to halt the state’s declining pension funding level, which is the lowest among triple-A rated states and has become a concern for rating agencies and investors.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims dropped more then economists expected for the week ending Jan. 15, falling by 37,000 new filings to 404,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Existing home sales surged past economists’ estimates in December, jumping a record 12.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Existing home sales surged past economist estimates in December, jumping a record 12.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims dropped by 37,000 to 404,000 for the week ending Jan. 15, the first drop in three weeks, reversing a large increase in claims reported last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica said Wednesday that he will introduce a multiyear surface transportation bill later this year that includes Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON — December housing starts dropped 4.3% to an annualized rate of 529,000 even as building permits headed the other way, jumping 16.7% to 635,000, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday.

The Charleston Area Medical Center, West Virginia’s largest medical provider, was put on watch for a possible downgrade last week by Moody’s Investors Service. The A2-rated hospital has $307 million of debt outstanding.

Greenville, South Carolina’s third-largest city, expects to sell $17.8 million of hospitality-tax revenue refunding and improvement bonds Tuesday . The bonds are secured by a junior-lien pledge of local hospitality taxes and are not backed by the city’s general revenues.

WASHINGTON - December housing starts dropped 4.3% to 529,000 as building permits jumped 16.7% to 635,000 – though the figure may have been skewed by changes in some states’ building codes, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.