Commerce Department

Amanda Simpson, First Transgender Presidential Appointee, Begins Work at Commerce Department: 'Being The First Sucks'

ABC News | Posted 01.05.2010 | Politics


"Being the first sucks," she told ABC News.com. "I'd rather not be the first but someone has to be first, or among the first. I think I'm experienced ...

Amanda Simpson, Transgender Candidate, Appointed To Commerce Post

The Huffington Post | Nick Wing | Posted 01.04.2010 | Politics


President Obama has appointed Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Adviser to the Commerce Department. "I'm truly honored ...

2010 Census Campaign Begins: Census Bureau Kicks Off Once-A-Decade Head Count

AP | STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | Posted 01.04.2010 | Politics


WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau kicks off its $300 million campaign Monday to prod, coax and cajole the nation's more than 300 million residents ...

Inventing Green

Jonathan A. Schein | Posted 12.22.2009 | Technology


Jonathan A. Schein

The Patent Office's decision to fast-track 'green' technology patent applications could help revive one of the most fundamental aspects of American society -- our speed of innovation.

Economic Reports Raise Hopes For Global Recovery

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO | Posted 12.12.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — Just in time for Christmas, the fragile economic recovery is showing signs of strengthening: Consumers are spending, companies are ...

Factory Orders Rise For Fifth Time In Six Months

Bloomberg | Shobhana Chandra | Posted 11.03.2009 | Business


Orders placed with U.S. factories rose in September for the fifth time in six months, reinforcing signs that manufacturing will drive the economic rec...

Bloomberg: US GDP Probably Grew 3.2% As Stimulus Took Hold

Bloomberg | Timothy R. Homan | Posted 10.25.2009 | Business


The economy in the U.S. probably grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in two years as government stimulus helped bring an end to the worst re...

Obama: I Will "Do Everything I Can" To Stop Banks From Killing Safety Agency

Bloomberg | Rich Miller and Julianna Goldman | Posted 11.15.2009 | Politics


President Barack Obama said job losses are "bottoming out" and the U.S. economy looks to be growing again even as he warned against cutting off govern...

Chairman of Gazprom Predicts $100 Oil Because of Speculation. Speculation, Really?

Raymond J. Learsy | Posted 11.14.2009 | Business


Raymond J. Learsy

"Manipulation" is immeasurably more sinister than "Speculation." It bespeaks of controlling, orchestrating and maneuvering to falsify and rig.

Senate Considers Charging Tourists To Visit U.S.

AP | KEVIN FREKING | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — Senators voted Wednesday to charge international travelers a $10 fee to help pay for a new nonprofit corporation that would promote...

GDP Declines 1 Percent In 2Q, Better Than Expected

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 09.27.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — Further evidence the recession is ending came in a report Thursday confirming that the economy shrank at an annual rate of just 1 p...

New Home Construction Falls Slightly, Missing Expectations

AP | ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer | Posted 09.18.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON -- Construction of new homes and apartments dipped slightly last month, missing expectations, in a sign that the building industry's recove...

Latest Consumer Spending Data Much Worse Than Expected

Sheldon Filger | Posted 09.17.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

The centrality of the U.S. consumer to the overall global economy has meant his pulling back on a debt induced shopping spree, which has sparked a worldwide synchronized recession.

Retail Sales Dip Unexpectedly, New Jobless Claims Rise

AP | CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER | Posted 09.13.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — A bleak report on retail sales Thursday reinforced a nagging worry of economists: Shoppers won't spend enough to help a recovery ta...

Are the U.S. Government's Statistics on the Economy to Be Trusted?

Sheldon Filger | Posted 09.01.2009 | Business


Sheldon Filger

The IRS doesn't consider credit to be income, or else it would tax us on all our debts. However, in the case of the U.S. government measuring GDP, the opposite logic applies.

Savings Rate At 15-Year High, May Incomes Surge

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 07.27.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON _ Households raised their savings rate to the highest level in more than 15 years in May as many used a big boost in money from the governm...

GDP Q1: Dips At Slightly Lower Pace

AP | Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer | Posted 07.26.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy tumbled at a 5.5 percent pace in the first quarter, but appears to be doing better now, even though heavy layoffs persi...

New Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly To 627K, 6.7M Still Unemployed

Yahoo! Finance | Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer | Posted 07.26.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people filing new jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week, and the total unemployment benefit rolls rose to more...

May New Home Sales Down 0.6 Percent

AP | ALAN ZIBEL | Posted 07.25.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — New U.S. home sales dipped slightly last month, in another sign that the housing market recovery is likely to be gradual and prolon...

New Home Construction: May Levels Up 17.2 percent

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 07.17.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — Construction of new homes jumped in May by the largest amount in three months, an encouraging sign that the nation's deep housing r...

Economy Shrank By 5.7 Percent In Q1

Yahoo! Finance | Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer | Posted 06.29.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy sank at a 5.7 percent pace in the first quarter as the brute force of the recession carried over into this year. ...

Housing bottom in sight, but recovery will be slow

AP | MARTIN CRUTSINGER | Posted 06.19.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — Single-family home construction posted a modest rebound in April, raising hopes that the three-year slide in housing is leveling of...

Seize the Net: Save the Net

Leslie Harris | Posted 05.04.2009 | Politics


Leslie Harris

Earlier this week, two Senators introduced a bill that gives the President the power to seize and shut down the Internet or any other "critical infrastructure " in the "interest of national security."

Remembering Ron Brown and Crafting an Agenda of Sustainable Commerce

Jonathan Greenblatt | Posted 05.03.2009 | Business


Jonathan Greenblatt

April 3rd is the anniversary of the death of Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown. If he stood among us, I believe he would espouse the power of responsible business.

February New Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly

AP | ALAN ZIBEL | Posted 04.25.2009 | Business


WASHINGTON — New home sales rebounded unexpectedly last month, but were still the second-worst on record and remained well below last year's lev...