John Ydstie

The dollar's value keeps climbing. That's a sign of a healthy economy, especially compared with some of America's biggest trading partners — but it also has the potential to slow U.S. economic growth.

There's more than the usual level of interest in this data. It will provide data on the final month of 2014 and it will show whether the strength recorded in November was the start of something big.

The House passed a bill Thursday that would make a change in the Affordable Care Act. It would raise the law's definition of full-time work from 30 hours to 40 hours a week.

On New Year's Day, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.23. That's the average though, and many stations are selling gas at under $2 a gallon.

Early in 2014, the economy was floored by the polar vortex — plus, businesses and consumers were dazed by a government shutdown and debt limit fight. But it rebounded, and analysts are optimistic.

After a two-day meeting, Federal Reserve policymakers say they will be "patient" before starting to raise interest rates from historically low levels.

The world benchmark for oil fell below $60 on Tuesday. Russia's Central Bank hiked interest rates in a bid to support the plummeting ruble, but had little success.

The price of oil fell again on Friday morning. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U..S. benchmark, dipped below $60 a barrel after news the International Energy Agency had cut its demand forecast for 2015.

The House is expected to vote Thursday on a spending bill designed to avert another government shutdown. Among the controversies: a rollback of the Dodd-Frank financial market regulat...

A group of black Congressional staffers staged a protest and walked out of the Capitol on Thursday. They were protesting recent grand jury decisions not to indict police officers who killed unarmed black men.

Previous months were revised upward and hourly wages climbed higher. All this has analysts wondering if the economy has finally kicked into a higher gear.

The unemployment rate held steady last month at 5.8 percent. And employers added 321,000 jobs to payrolls, far above expectations.

In-store purchases on Black Friday fell this year, but online sales have seen a big increase. Easy comparison shopping and widespread free shipping have sweetened the deal for many online shoppers.

The health care law gives subsidies to those whose employers' insurance isn't affordable, but that's based on the cost of worker-only coverage. Adding family to a plan can send prices out of reach.

Major business groups are reacting skeptically to a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce ozone pollution. Since 1980, ozone pollution has fallen by a third.

Open enrollment in Obamacare resumes Saturday. While no one expects a repeat of last year's disastrous launch, millions of people will be trying to renew coverage or sign up for the first time.

Six banks, including Citigroup, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase, will pay regulators more than $4 billion to settle charges they manipulated the currency exchange market to boost profits.

The economy added 214,000 jobs in October, less than the 248,000 produced in September, but just enough to continue pushing the unemployment rate down.

The U.S. is now the world's largest oil producer, and some worry that falling prices could mean an industry slowdown. But with production costs also falling, drillers are unlikely to cut back soon.

Federal Reserve policymakers voted Wednesday to end a giant bond-buying stimulus program that's been in place in one form or another for the last six years.