AP - A group of Democratic senators is urging the Obama administration to suspend an economic stimulus program aimed at financing renewable energy, complaining that money is going to projects that are creating jobs in foreign countries.

AP - The European Union's executive commission promised Wednesday it would eventually have concrete measures in place to safeguard the stability of the 16 nations that share the euro and stem problems such as Greece's debt crisis, which is threatening the currency union.

AFP - The Senate passed a 10-billion-dollar emergency measure extending unemployment benefits, ending a procedural block by a Republican senator that prevented payments to thousands since Sunday.

AFP - The US private sector shed the smallest number of jobs in two years in February, a payrolls firm said Wednesday in a report signaling a healing labor sector as the economy recovers from recession.

Reuters - U.S. private employers shed 20,000 jobs in February, fewer than the 60,000 jobs lost in January, a report by a private employment service said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Banks that are seen as too large to fail should be broken up in order to make the financial system more stable, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The number of planned layoffs at U.S. firms fell in February to the lowest level since 2006, and employers appear to have shifted away from downsizing even though hiring may be a while off, a report on Wednesday showed.

AP - German retail sales levels for January held steady versus December, though fell 3.4 percent compared with January 2009 levels, the Federal Statistical Office said Wednesday.

Reuters - A new consumer protection agency is an urgent need as the United States seeks better financial regulation but putting it in the Federal Reserve is unacceptable, George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, said on Wednesday.

FT.com - The fundamental, and at times, passionate debate about sovereign debt is a predictable part of the sequencing of the financial crisis rumbling through the West. The crisis has exposed three major fault lines in our fiscal systems. First, it broke the banking system, the fixing of which has extracted a heavy cost. Second, it shocked western economies, depriving governments of significant tax revenues. Third, it exposed the fragility and unsustainability of public finance arrangements, by reminding us of the existing and enormous future budgetary costs associated with rapid ageing. ...

Reuters - Jobs shed by U.S. private employers in February dropped from the prior month, while U.S. firms' planned layoffs fell to the lowest since 2006, suggesting the job market may be starting to recover.

Reuters - The U.S. services sector grew in February at its fastest pace in more than two years, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.

Reuters - Low U.S. interest rates were not the sole cause of the housing bubble, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday, adding that ultra-low interest rates are appropriate now.

Reuters - Buffalo's Statler Towers hotel was, at 18 stories, one of New York state's tallest building when it was erected in 1923. It now stands vacant and boarded up as a sore reminder of the city's long, losing quest to attract business, investment and residents.

Reuters - U.S. private employers eliminated fewer jobs last month, suggesting the job market may be on the mend, while the U.S. services sector grew at its fastest pace since the recession began.

AP - Shares of Akamai Technologies Inc. climbed Wednesday after Merriman Curhan Ford upgraded the company, citing growing Web traffic, an improving economy and a diminished threat from rivals.

Reuters - The U.S. economy will recover slowly and the unemployment rate will take some time to come down, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday.

AP - Missouri's unemployment fell slightly in January, but the state also shed 12,800 nonfarm jobs.

AFP - The US private sector shed the smallest number of jobs in two years in February, a payrolls firm said Wednesday in a report signaling a healing labor sector as the economy recovers from recession.

Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday proposed another new rule to strengthen consumer protections against abusive practices by credit card issuers, including limiting penalty fees and requiring them to reconsider past interest rate hikes.

AFP - The US economy continued to expand modestly on the back of consumer spending but the labor market remained bleak, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report Wednesday.

Reuters - Economic activity strengthened modestly across most of the 12 Federal Reserve districts during February and likely would have done better if not for heavy snowstorms that battered many areas.

AP - The down economy has caused a major shift in consumer spending.

AP - SNOW JOB: Last month's snowstorms are expected to inflate job losses in February's unemployment report, due out Friday, by 100,000 or more. The Obama administration is downplaying the importance of the report due to the distortions.

Reuters - Puerto Ricans told a White House task force on Wednesday that persistent wrangling over the U.S. Caribbean territory's political status was hampering solutions to its worsening social and economic problems.

AP - The February jobs report to be released Friday is likely to be bleak.

Reuters - Private jobs data and a Federal Reserve report showed glimmers of improvement in the U.S. labor market last month, considered key to propelling the economic recovery, while the U.S. services sector grew at its fastest pace since the recession began.

Reuters - As California officials grapple with closing a $20 billion state budget gap, their local counterparts fear cuts in state financial aid -- just as they slash spending to tackle budget woes of their own.

AP - THE BIG CHILL: The economy continues to grow slowly, but snowstorms crimped activity along the East Coast, the Federal Reserve reported.

The Christian Science Monitor - In a sprint on Tuesday night, the US Senate passed a 30-day extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits, then raced it to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

AP - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday proposed strict limits on penalty fees and other charges that credit card companies can slap on customers for missteps such as late payments or going over credit limits.

AFP - The US economy showed signs of green shoots in February despite blasts of wintry weather, although modest growth was patchy, data has shown ahead of a key government labor report.