Hiring picked up slightly in July, and the unemployment rate dipped to 9.1 percent. The modest improvement could ease fears of another recession, but it wasn't enough to prevent another wild day of trading on Wall Street.

The two-week plunge in stock prices is signaling economic anxiety, but it's also compounding the problem: Lower stock prices are shrinking Americans' wealth, rattling their confidence and making them less inclined to spend. And employers may become even slower to hire.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dipped last week, a sign the job market may be improving after all.

The first phase of a deal to raise the government's borrowing limit would pose little threat to the economy in the short term because almost none of the spending cuts would occur before 2014.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since early April, a sign the job market may be healing after a recent slump.

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, evidence that layoffs are rising and the job market is weak.

Fewer people sought unemployment benefits last week, an encouraging sign the job market may be slowly improving.

Hiring slowed to a near-standstill last month, raising doubts that the economy will rebound in the second half of the year after a spring slump.