Imports

In an encouraging sign for the American economy, the U.S. trade deficit fell sharply in December as exports grew at a solid pace while imports of oil and many other goods shrank from the prior month, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The big drop...

WASHINGTON -- A spike in American imports of consumer goods, autos and other products led to a sharp increase in the U.S. trade deficit in November from the prior month, the government said Friday. One immediate implication of the unexpectedly big...

Three popular brands of baby mattresses that were marketed in recent months to families and day care centers contained toxic flame retardants linked to increased cancer risk, according to laboratory tests conducted for the Chicago Tribune. One member of...

TOKYO - Japan, Asia's largest beef buyer, has suspended imports from Brazil after a cow in Parana state tested positive for mad-cow disease. "We suspended imports from Brazil as soon as an outbreak of BSE was confirmed," the Ministry of Agriculture,...

The ban on beef from Brazil's Parana state is spreading. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Korea join China, South Africa and Japan in not buying beef from the region after Brazil revealed the discovery of a cow with proteins that cause bovine spongiform...

Efforts to avert the "fiscal cliff" offer great drama, but they won't solve Washington's budget woes and could precipitate another recession — or worse. The Budget Act of 2011 requires the president and Congress to agree on a nine-year, $1.2...

The economy added 96,000 jobs in August, down from 141,000 in July and not nearly enough to keep pace with population growth. The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent only because 581,000 workers quit looking for work and are no longer counted in the...

China should be at the center of the 2012 Republican campaign for the White House. Unless Mitt Romney emphasizes specific solutions for creating jobs by ending unnecessary outsourcing to the Middle Kingdom, he won't win. President Barack Obama's...

WASHINGTON -- Preoccupied by the election, Americans may be under the delusion that most major social and economic changes proceed from the ballot box. Not so. The latest reminder of this comes from a surprising source: the annual World Energy Outlook...

A stocky onetime mortgage broker is speeding through Costa Mesa in an old pickup with two pounds of weed in a paper bag. He wears gray cargo shorts and flip-flops and a faded cap with the image of a marijuana leaf stitched on the front. He just smoked a...

Check out festivals and events in September across the state. Check out statewide events this coming weekend, or view the whole month's offerings by region below: Coming up this week Through Nov. 2 (Select Nights): Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party,...

At first, after entering Blacksmith Coffee Roastery in Lindsborg, a visitor might see the burlap bags flopped in stacks on the brick floor and then note a few wooden barrels nearby.  The visitor might wonder why the place looks like some cargo ship just...