House Democrats are looking at big health care changes, including federal aid to help families earning up to $88,000 pay for insurance and a requirement that all must carry coverage.
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 legislative proposal is the administration's first major step in overhauling the nation's financial regulatory system.
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 Dutch bank and insurer blamed loss on falling asset prices, the weak performance of insurance contracts and restructuring charges.
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 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.
World stock markets fell Monday as investors took advantage of a light financial news day to book profits made over the last couple of weeks — and recently buoyant bank stocks bore the brunt.
