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"Military pay, ammunition, tanks, planes, and compensation for dead and wounded soldiers, all contribute to the GDP figures. Put simply, the war against Ukraine is now the main driver of Russia's economic growth" Foucart said... Other areas of Russia's economy are hurting as the war drags on. Moscow is slammed with a severe labor shortage, thanks to young professionals fleeing the country or being pulled into the conflict. The nation is now short around 5 million workers, according to one estimate, which is causing wages to soar. Inflation is high at 7.4% — nearly double the 4% target of its...

On Sunday, Moscow downplayed the importance of a ‘sweeping’ new round of more than 100 sanctions imposed by the U.S. over the war in Ukraine.The Kremlin is saying Washington ‘shouldn’t hold its breath’ in pressuring the Kremlin to stop the offensive, further adding that ‘they will never defeat us.’The IMF projections suggest it may indeed be the case, as Russia is expected to post bigger economic growth than its US and EU foes.The sanctions target ‘Russian energy production and revenue, the metals and mining sectors, defense procurement, and those involved in supporting Moscow’s war effort’, according to a statement by...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) The federal government had to borrow a record $111 billion in the January-March quarter to cover the shortfall between expenses and tax revenue and expects to borrow another $79 billion in the current quarter, the Treasury Department said Monday.</p>

NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S consumer sentiment rebounded off nine-year lows in April, as the war in Iraq wound down, market sources told Reuters on Friday. The University of Michigan's final April index of consumer sentiment jumped to 86.0, above economists' expectations of 84.8, from 77.6 in March, the sources said. The final reading for March was the lowest since September 1993, and the April level is still low by historical standards. The final Michigan index level for April reinforces what other consumer confidence surveys have said this month: Americans are pleased that fighting in Iraq is mostly...

Fri April 25, 2003 10:05 AM ET WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Americans bought far more new homes than expected in March, a government report showed on Friday, as homebuyers took advantage of some of the lowest mortgage rates since the 1960s. New home sales rose 7.3 percent to a 1.012 million unit annual rate last month, the Commerce Department said, exceeding analyst expectations for an 898,000 sales pace. That followed a revised 3.3 percent drop in February. Commerce said there were more late home sales in that month than the department estimated, leading to the change from a previously...

ReutersU.S. jobless claims rose in latest weekThursday April 24, 8:32 am ET WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Labor Department report of initial state jobless benefit claims, seasonally adjusted. Week Ended Initial Claims 4-Week Avg. Continued Claims 04/19/03 455,000 439,250 Unavailable 04/12/03 447,000-R 426,000-R 3,589,000 04/05/03 412,000 421,250 3,547,000-R 03/29/03 443,000 423,250 3,488,000-R r-revised REVISIONS: INITIAL CLAIMS: April 12 from 442,000 4-WEEK AVG: April 12 from 424,750 CONTINUED CLAIMS: April 5 from 3,574,000; March 29 from 3,498,000 STATES WITH DECREASE IN CLAIMS OF MORE THAN 1,000: Five states reported a decrease in claims of more than 1,000 in the week...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders for big-ticket U.S. manufactured items rose unexpectedly in March, buoyed by healthy demand across most categories, the government said on Thursday in a report showing badly needed improvement in the hard-hit factory sector. But the labor market eroded further, as the number of workers signing up for unemployment aid last week hit its highest level in more than a year, a separate report showed. Still, signs of a pickup in business spending, crucial to a strong recovery for the U.S. economy, were evident in the Commerce Department's latest data on durable goods orders. Commerce said new...

THE MARKETS ARE treating the fall of Saddam and the extraordinary history we've been watching this past week as a non-event. In my view, they couldn't be more short-sighted. Let's sidestep for a moment the admittedly fascinating, complex and profound geopolitical implications of the stunning coalition military victory and focus on the one thing that will mean the most to markets world-wide: oil. Relatively little is being written on this vitally important aspect of the conflict, which is surprising given that many accused the U.S. of fostering a war in Iraq for the primary if not sole purpose of getting...

The economy surged 6.4 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with 3.7 percent in the same period in 2002, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said at the Cabinet meeting Thursday. "The results of the first quarter are cheering. This is a heartening indicator. But the positive trend could be lost without further systematic action," Kasyanov was quoted by Interfax as saying. Similar GDP growth was last seen at the end of 2000 -- and the economy was shrinking at the time. In addition, growth that year was the result of an economic rebound from the 1998 financial...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.Consumers are balking, and the lack of demand, in turn, is paralyzing companies. NEW YORK -Those hopes for a postwar surge in corporate spending are fizzling fast. Businesses aren't ready to put money toward capital goods just yet. It comes down to this: When you buy new forklifts, build factories or upgrade technology, you want to see solid returns on your investments. But it's hard to guarantee any payback when customer demand is so uncertain. So companies feel paralyzed, at least for now, and that is bad news for the already fragile...

War fears made Americans less willing to spend, but the end of the war won't necessarily revive an ailing economy, analysts and economists say. "The war is getting too much credit and too much blame for how people are looking at the economy," said Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup Organization. "Consumers had a pretty negative mood in general and then the war came along."Wells Fargo economist Sung Won Sohn estimates war worries will shave 1 percent off U.S. economic growth in the first half of the year, but increased military spending will account for half of the...

Brandi, the younger sister of Private Jessica Lynch, begins her own military training this summer. In Wirt County, West Virginia, where America's most famous ex-POW will soon return home, there are not many career alternatives. In the Lynch family's home town of Palestine, the one surviving small business, the "Whatnot Shop", scrapes by on sales of ceramic roosters, third-hand sewing machines and a selection of stuffed animals. Like many other businesses in the United States, it isn't hiring. Unemployment in the area is well over double the national average, which is already high. The logging and construction industries are in...

<p>NEW YORK -- Those hopes for a postwar surge in corporate spending are fizzling fast. Businesses aren't ready to put money toward capital goods yet.</p> <p>It comes down to this: When you buy new forklifts, build factories or upgrade technology, you want to see solid returns on your investments. But it's hard to guarantee any payback with such uncertain customer demand.</p>

Does the stock market hate both war and peace? Nearly everyone had been saying stocks were depressed by war uncertainties that would vanish with victory, bringing a huge victory rally. Why didn't that happen? Sure, it will take several months to get Iraq oil back on the market. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has unwisely decided not to fill that void with strategic reserves. Sure, there are still big uncertainties about the costs and dangers of occupation. But two of the biggest uncertainties have, in fact, been resolved -- namely, the duration and damage of war itself and the risk that...

<p>President George W. Bush gave a much-needed speech Tuesday in the Rose Garden of the White House. The stock market rallied — at least temporarily — as it heard the president's firm commitment to not only protecting America from foreign dangers, but to fighting hard for a tax-cut package that will grow the economy, increase investment, and create new jobs.</p>

America is consumed with taxation. We have been since the inception of this nation. Today, there are a few great questions about taxation, especially its effect on the economy. When the country is deeply in debt should taxes be cut? Are tax cuts helpful to the economy? Who in this country is overtaxed and what should be done about it? There is a great deal of misinformation regarding the taxation situation and frankly, a lot of misleading scare tactics to steer various agendas by political figures. Below is an attempt to address the facts of our national debt and the...

April U.S. Mid-Atlantic factory output weak-survey Thursday April 17, 12:11 pm ET NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Manufacturing in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region remained weak in early April as factories trimmed production and economic activity paused during the U.S.-led war in Iraq, but expectations for the future were more upbeat. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said on Thursday its April index of factory business conditions fell to -8.8 from -8.0 in March, the second month of shrinking output. That was below the -4.9 reading forecast by economists, but not as weak as many in the market feared. The...

Thu April 17, 2003 08:35 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans than expected signed up for state unemployment benefits last week, reflecting increased layoffs in the auto industry as the world's richest economy limped forward, a government report on Thursday showed. First-time jobless claims rose by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 442,000 for the week ended April 12, the Labor Department said. It was the ninth straight week that claims held above the key 400,000 level, regarded by economists as a sign of an unhealthy labor market. Much of the rise reflects an increase in layoffs in the auto...

April 16, 2003 Slump in Plane Travel Grounds Wichita By PETER T. KILBORN [W] ICHITA, Kan., April 14 ? Their income from the aircraft industry has evaporated. Their split-level home of six years, in a neighborhood sliced from farmland, has a Coldwell Banker "For Sale" sign in front. Deborah Salter has sold her jewelry. Her husband, Jim, has sold his truck, guns, tools and lawn mower. The Salters are moving on, to what they do not know. Stunned by how their life has unraveled, Mrs. Salter looks to her husband for some solution. "I'm trying to get answers out of...

Victory Not Enough By James K. Glassman Posted: April 16, 2003 Three months ago, President Bush proposed reviving the economy with a package that would cut the tax bills of 92 million Americans. The president has had other things on his mind since then, and the opposition of only a few Senators pared the package back in the budget resolution last week. But there's still a chance that nearly everything the president wants will become law later this year. Let's hope so. Our success in Iraq will lift the fog of geopolitical uncertainty that's stifled the economy and set the...