South Carolina’s economy got an early Christmas present on Tuesday, as the unemployment rate dropped under 10 percent for the first time since April. The plunge came as retailers beefed up sales staff for an unexpectedly good holiday shopping season and others dropped out of the job

Gov. Nikki Haley has endorsed Mitt Romney for president, according to a news release from Romney’s campaign. “He is a conservative businessman who has spent his life working in the economy, and he understands exactly how jobs are created,” Haley said in a news release. “

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, his office said Monday, closing out a career of more than three decades in Congress capped by last year's passage of legislation imposing new regulations on Wall Street.Frank, 71 and a lifelong liberal, won a House seat in 1980 was one of the first lawmakers to announce that he is gay.He scheduled an early a...

ROCHESTER, Mich. — Republican presidential candidates will debate Wednesday night for the first time since Herman Cain became controversial, Rick Perry unveiled his optional flat-tax plan and Mitt Romney explained in detail how he'd reduce budget deficits. Cain, who scheduled a news conference Tuesday to defend himself against accusations of aggressive sexual behavior by several women, w...

Employers stopped adding jobs in August, an alarming setback for an economy that has struggled to grow and might be at risk of another recession.It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent.Stock futures plunged on the news. Dow futures fell

As Bank of America Corp.’s stock has tumbled and clawed back in recent days, city leaders, business owners and others with a stake in the company are waiting to see what happens next.The stock market swings have delivered a familiar feeling of anxiety to a city pummeled by the financial crisis. Local leaders and business owners say they aren’t as fearful this time. But they acknowled...

U.S. investors will have their first chance Monday to react to Standard & Poor's decision to strip the U.S. government of its top credit rating. But the bigger issues facing Wall Street and stock markets worldwide remain debt-ridden countries in Europe and concerns that the global economy

WASHINGTON — After a spate of bad economic news and a 10-day pounding of stock prices, Friday’s jobs report is likely to play an outsized role in either calming the waters or deepening fears that the U.S. economy is sliding back toward recession. Stocks plummeted Thursday as investors

The sluggish economy is affecting blood supplies in the Carolinas, where donors are failing to meet the anticipated demands.The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the blood supply in the Carolinas has dwindled to the lowest level in more than 12 years.American Red Cross regional director Barry

The government says that a bad economy has shortened the life of the trust funds that support the nation's two biggest benefit programs.The annual checkup said that the Medicare hospital insurance fund will now be exhausted in 2024, five years earlier than last year's estimate. The new report

The bin Laden rally lasted all of three hours. Stocks began climbing Monday morning after news of the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist. Strong earnings reports from Humana Inc. and other companies also pushed them higher. But by lunchtime, the gains were gone. The major indexes wavered throughout the remainder of the day and closed slightly lower. “As great as the news is,...

The Great Recession gets the blame for shrinking a new Georgetown County library branch.The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports a new Waccamaw Neck Branch Library was originally designed as a $6 million, two-story building. Officials now are planning a one-story building at a cost of about $3.5 million because of the troubled economy.County library director Dwight McInvaill says the library was given...

When Nikki Haley takes the oath of office next week as the first Indian-American governor of South Carolina, the ceremony at the State House will resonate not only across South Carolina but in her parents’ native India.Haley, a child of Sikh parents who emigrated from India and built a successful clothing company, earns a place in state history as the first minority governor and its first fem...

Gulfstream Aerospace, a maker of business-jet aircraft, announced Monday that it is expanding operations in Georgia by adding more than 1,000 jobs and investing at least $500 million.Gulfstream's seven-year plan calls for expanding its jet production and maintenance facilities at the Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport and renovating several existing facilities on its main Savannah campus. ...

An iconic nightspot on the South Carolina coast will soon be a Dollar General store.The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports renovation has begun on the former Studebaker's nightclub in Myrtle Beach and should take about two months.For almost three decades, Studebaker's was part of the Myrtle Beach entertainment scene and had been home to most of the annual National Shag Dance Championships.The nights...

The Associated Press is streaming live video from a news conference at the White House where President Barack Obama is expected to discuss the economy and trade issues.

A South Carolina mayor wants people to know that retrofitting can save watts and create jobs.Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley holds a news conference on Tuesday with representatives of the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy.Officials will mention efforts to make homes more energy efficient and how retrofitting homes can mean jobs for the economy.The Energy Effic...