NEW YORK (Reuters) – The expansion in the vast U.S. services sector slowed slightly last month, suggesting growth in the world’s largest economy would remain modest, while activity in China’s services industry also waned.

Businesses in Great Britain and India also lost momentum in October, though Ireland saw its services sector grow at its fastest pace in five years, which some said suggests the struggling economy could outpace most euro zone peers in 2013.

NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) – Asia’s large economies started to pick up steam last month after a year of slower growth, surveys showed on Thursday, while U.S. manufacturing showed modest improvement.

The jury was out on whether the data signaled sustained improvement in the fragile global economy, although analysts said strength in the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, was essential to overall economic well-being.

NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) – Private U.S. firms stepped up hiring last month and factories showed modest improvement, surveys showed Thursday, while Asia’s large economies started to pick up after a year of slower growth.

The jury was out on whether the data signalled sustained improvement in the fragile global economy, though analysts said strength in the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, was essential to overall economic well-being.

Oct 31 (Reuters) – As historic storm Sandy pummeled the U.S.
Northeast, knocking out power and crippling transportation in
New York City and beyond, the enterprising American spirit was
running high – mostly for good, though sometimes leading to
accusations of gouging.

Giovanni Hernandez, a tree surgeon working in affluent
Millburn, New Jersey, said demand for his services had reached
“madness” levels with hundreds of phone calls from people with
damaged trees on their property.

NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Euro zone businesses
suffered another dismal month in October as factory output
plunged in Germany, the area’s top economy and exporter, while
conditions improved slightly for U.S. and Chinese manufacturers.

Deteriorating conditions across Europe suggested the
downturn in the 17-country euro zone would accelerate over the
last three months of the year, according to Chris Williamson,
chief economist at financial data firm Markit.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nobody likes taxes, and much of Wall Street has poured money into Mitt Romney campaign coffers to avoid paying higher ones.

Yet a surprising number of top money managers say they are willing to pay modestly higher rates. They reason that revenue-raising measures are an essential complement to the spending cuts they say are needed to curb the massive U.S. budget deficit.

NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Foreign demand for long-term
U.S. securities hit a seven-month high in August as investors
sharply increased purchases of corporate and agency debt, the
U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday.

Demand for U.S. government bonds slipped slightly, however,
and China’s Treasury holdings were almost 10 percent lower than
they were when Standard & Poor’s stripped the United States of
its top AAA credit rating in August of 2011.

NEW YORK, Oct 11 (Reuters) – DBRS reaffirmed the United
States top AAA credit rating on Thursday, citing the economy’s
productivity and flexibility, but said failure to stabilize a
growing debt burden could threaten the rating in the future.

For now, the agency said the rating was stable, as the sheer
size of the U.S. economy and the dollar’s role as world reserve
currency allowed the government to finance its debt cheaply.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar rose on Wednesday after data showed U.S. companies added more jobs than expected last month, boosting some hopes that the health of the world’s largest economy was improving.

A separate report showing the vast U.S. services sector gained momentum in September also helped lift the greenback to a two-week high against the yen and buoyed it against sterling and commodity-sensitive currencies from Australia and New Zealand.

NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly
grew last month for the first time since May but euro zone
factories suffered their worst quarter since early 2009 and
China lost steam, suggesting the global economy faces hurdles as
it tries to outrun recession.

The data showed companies across the world have yet to
benefit much from government and central bank efforts to
stimulate growth.