The legislative proposal is the administration's first major step in overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system.
The Labor Department said Thursday the number of new claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 637,000, from a revised 605,000 the previous week. That's above analysts' expectations of 610,000.
The Munich, Germany-based insurer said net profit in the January-March period was €29 million ($40 million) compared with a profit of €1.15 billion in the first quarter of 2008.
The British economy has a 50-50 chance of returning to growth by the middle of 2010, says the U.K.'s central bank.
The Dutch bank and insurer blamed loss on falling asset prices, the weak performance of insurance contracts and restructuring charges.
The federal government ran a deficit in April for the first time in 26 years, pushing the red ink so far this budget year to a record $802.3 billion.
The government's unprecedented "stress tests" of the 19 largest U.S. banks should bolster Americans' battered confidence in U.S. banking system, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today as he defended the rigor of the exams.
The U.S. trade deficit rose in March for the first time since last July as the global recession cut sharply into sales of American exports.
A prominent lawyer accused of defrauding hedge funds of at least $400 million is expected to plead guilty Monday to charges that carry a potential sentence of decades in prison.
Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction with rates on six-month bills dropping to the lowest level since mid-January.
