WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.3 percent between April and June, the government said Friday in a report that underscored concerns about the sluggish pace of recovery in an increasingly fragile economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis also revised downwards

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

Hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month. Employers added the fewest jobs in nine months and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent.The economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June, the Labor Department said Friday. And the number of jobs added in May was revised down to 25,000

This year, as the nation celebrates Independence Day, the sputtering U.S. economy offers a stark reminder that today we're more dependent upon foreigners than ever before. We need them to finance our debt: China and Japan together hold more than $2 trillion of U.S. Treasury bonds

The government's labor dispute with Boeing Co. is turning into a political headache for President Barack Obama, giving his Republican rivals a fresh opening to bash the administration's economic policies.From congressional hearings to presidential debates, outraged Republicans are keeping up a steady drumbeat of criticism over the National Labor Relations Board's lawsuit against the aerospace gian...

President Barack Obama is in a fragile position as the 2012 campaign begins: Only 37 percent of registered voters approve of his handling of the economy, his lowest rating ever, according to a new McClatchy Newspapers-Marist poll. Another ominous sign for Obama: By nearly 2-1, voters disapprove

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says he will run a campaign that is based on who would be a better president, not who is a better American.Huntsman on Tuesday formally entered the Republican presidential primary with the Statue of Liberty behind him. He says the United States' economy is "totally

For just a moment, before being escorted down a makeshift aisle lined by about 20 friends and relatives to say 'I do,'" Amy Niblock paused - to slip off her flip-flops.With a banner plane touting "Pirates Voyage" overhead and lounging, bikini-clad sunbathers just feet away in the sand, Niblock and Donavan Kellams, both from Statesville, N.C., said their vows and exchanged rings in a 20-minute cere...

Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she disagrees with a state Senate budget proposal that would add $105 million to K-12 education spending, arguing the money instead should be used for tax cuts or to pay off state debt.Haley also said that, in the future, anytime a three-member panel of state economists increases projected state revenues, as they did last month, the added state money should go ...

The state's proposed $5.8 billion budget for its fiscal year that starts July 1 is hung up over whether to add money for schools or cut rising unemployment taxes for businesses.The Senate budget would split money added by growth in the state's economy -- with $100 million paying for business tax

Republican White House hopefuls condemned President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy from the opening moments of their first major debate of the campaign season Monday night, and pledged emphatically to repeal his historic year-old health care overhaul. “When 14 million

Over the past decade, more people have been eating at their desks and shortening their lunch times — sometimes even working through lunch. Are you doing more of this? Are your co-workers?Over the last decade, fueled by salary cuts and job insecurity, lunch hour has evolved. It’s shorter, more purposeful and more often spent in the office. It’s the source of lawsuits, a point of cont...

Mitt Romney is opening his first formal day as a 2012 Republican presidential candidate by pitching himself as the one to heal the economy and issuing a direct challenge to the man he wants to replace: "Barack Obama has failed America," he says.In excerpts released ahead of his formal kick

More travelers are expected to hit the road – and the skies – this Memorial Day weekend.That increased travel, vital to the economy of a state with a huge tourism sector, comes as gas prices in South Carolina have fallen to the cheapest in the nation and more people are finding jobs

Shipping already curtailed because of flooding that is plaguing the Mississippi River was halted for much of Tuesday when officials closed the waterway north of New Orleans in the latest tough decision to try to reduce pressure on levees protecting cities and towns.By late in the day, barges that haul coal, timber, iron, steel and more than half of America's grain exports were allowed to pass, but...

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

Employers added more than 200,000 jobs in April for the third straight month, the biggest hiring spree in five years. But the unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent.The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 244,000 jobs last month. Private employers shrugged off high gas prices

, said he believes the environmental movement has lost steam with lawmakers in recent years as the economy and oth...

The Cooperative Ministry is tapping into the social network to help raise funds for its ongoing charitable efforts.The agency, which provides crisis assistance to the working poor, is competing with charities across the country for donations ranging from $20,000 to $500,000 through the Chase Community Giving program. Area residents can help by voting through the Chase Community Giving program, cur...

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,...

South Carolina Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt is joining business leaders and others to help map the future of the Charleston-area economy.Leaders will unveil what they are calling Opportunity Next, an economic roadmap for the area, during a meeting in North Charleston on Friday. Community leaders and educators are also attending the event.The development of the strategic plan was headed by the Cha...

The United States has never defaulted on its debt and Democrats and Republicans say they don't want it to happen now. But with partisan acrimony running at fever pitch, and Democrats and Republicans so far apart on how to tame the deficit, the unthinkable is suddenly being pondered.The government now borrows about 42 cents of every dollar it spends. Imagine that one day soon, the borrowing slams u...

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has hired Jon Lerner, a pollster with South Carolina connections, as he gears up to run for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.Lerner has a history of helping candidates win in S.C. races, including advising current Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Rep. Tim Scott and former Gov. Mark Sanford. Lerner is a favorite of the Club for Growth, a D.C.-based fiscally cons...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the closest to a front-runner in a wide-open Republican field, took a major step toward a second White House candidacy Monday, formally announcing a campaign exploratory committee.Romney declared that "with able leadership, America's best days are still ahead," vigorously asserting that President Barack Obama had failed to provide it.The Republican, who has b...

Getting people to go green is a matter of education and economic incentives, according to a panel of U.S. and U.K. experts speaking in Columbia on Friday.U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and British energy minister Gregory Barker took part in the discussion at the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.Barker, a leader in U.K. green initiatives that in...

The unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent in March and companies added workers at the fastest two-month pace since before the recession began.The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 216,000 new jobs last month, offsetting layoffs by local governments. Factories

One of the world's newest ocean liners is calling in South Carolina.Oceania Cruise's Marina was launched late last year and makes a call in Charleston on Thursday.The Marina is sailing up the East Coast to New York before continuing across the Atlantic to Barcelona, Spain.The 66,000-ton vessel can carry 1,250 guests and has six gourmet restaurants.The cruise industry means about $37 million to the...

Lower unemployment and bankruptcies helped reduce the nation's economic stress in January compared with a year earlier, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis. Still, the figures show the economy has yet to regain full health.Midwestern and Southeastern states posted the strongest

This week’s Palmetto Open Source Software Conference — or POSSCON — is bringing some of the nation’s leading software developers to Columbia.The conference, which will be held Wednesday through Friday at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, will focus on the latest issues for developers, executives, government leaders and educators.The conference is unique on th...

The design team and other plans for South Carolina's new $25 million cruise passenger terminal in Charleston are about to be revealed.Mayor Joe Riley and port officials meet with the media on Tuesday to discuss plans for the terminal first proposed last year and that is expected to be in operation by the end of next year.The plan proposes a new one-berth passenger terminal in an existing building ...