William Sluis

BANKS Interest up in Congress It has been nearly four years since the Federal Reserve last raised interest rates, and the result was devastating. The squeeze on monetary policy rapidly...

RETAIL SALES Tax refunds fuel gain A sudden revival of the job market has turned the theories of experts on their ear. If the economy has, indeed, added a half-million...

SERVICE SECTOR Job growth, Phase 2 Those who insist the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise interest rates later this year point to a squeeze on raw materials, with...

EMPLOYMENT Payrolls still lagging Thanks to a tide of liquidity generated by ultralow interest rates and a flood of tax refunds, economists believe growth is riding the crest, at an...

ECONOMIC GROWTH Percolating, sans jobs As the first quarter chugs into its final 10 days, economists are confident that interest rates are on hold and won't budge from a 45-year...

HOUSING Weather worries Thanks to a boom that has generated millions of new homes since 2000, the construction industry has created a solid roof over an economy that has otherwise...

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE Mood modification? At this point in an economic recovery, Americans are supposed to be lining up for an array of well-paying new jobs. Employers, flush with fresh cash,...

REAL ESTATE `Bloom is off' When buyers contemplate housing, they inevitably picture plump, steady price appreciation. Year after year, home values are on a long upward march, at times leaping...

ECONOMY End to spending surge? Those who puzzle over how the economy manages to keep accelerating note that no matter how rapidly consumers find their incomes growing, they manage to...

EMPLOYMENT Adding to payrolls Those who try to explain a mysterious near-absence of payroll growth in an economy that is purported to be sizzling note these factors: Technology that has...