New glimmers of hope emerged in economic figures released Wednesday: •The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods, manufactured products expected to last at least three years, increased 3.4 percent in February, much better than the 2 percent economists had expected. It was the strongest one-month gain in 14 months. ...more

March 26, 2009

As many as 150 veteran teachers likely will hear this week that the district won't be renewing their contract next school year. ...more

March 23, 2009

Hoping for relief from the state, the Hillsborough County teachers union asked school administrators Thursday to delay decisions that could mean lost wages or lost jobs for hundreds of veteran teachers. ...more

March 20, 2009

Hoping for relief from the state, the Hillsborough County teachers union asked school administrators today to delay decisions that could mean lost wages or lost jobs for hundreds of veteran teachers. ...more

March 19, 2009

The number of new housing projects that builders broke ground on in February rose sharply, defying economists' forecasts for yet another drop in activity. ...more

March 17, 2009

Seattle Paper Goes Online Hearst Corp. announced Monday that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will print its last newspaper edition today and become exclusively Web-based as www.seattlepi.com, making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to move to online only. ...more

March 17, 2009

America's recession "probably" will end this year if the government succeeds in bolstering the banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday in a rare television interview. ...more

March 16, 2009

As they prepare to open a two-day meeting Tuesday, Federal Reserve policymakers are weighing whether to launch new programs or expand existing ones to spur lending, get Americans spending again and lift the country out of recession. ...more

March 16, 2009

When will this wretched economy bottom out? The recession is already in its 15th month. For now, everything seems to be getting worse: The Dow is in free-fall, jobs are vanishing every day, and one in eight American homeowners is in foreclosure or behind on payments. ...more

March 15, 2009

Lawmakers got the bad financial news most were expecting Friday when state economists said they now expect general revenue to be down about $1 billion in the current budget year and more than $2 billion in the next one compared with estimates made four months ago. ...more

March 14, 2009