The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is starting a review of practices at the largest U.S. telecommunications carriers.

Deere & Co. says it's prepared to significantly expand its farm, forestry and construction operations in Russia "under the right market access conditions."

At midday Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 34 at 8,247. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 6 at 891. The Nasdaq composite index is off 21 at 1,775.

A trade group's measure of the health of the U.S. services sector contracted less than expected in June, reaching its highest level in nine months.

Frederic V. Rolando is the new president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

A bankruptcy judge says General Motors can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, clearing the way for the automaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy.

The stock market is in retreat again as investors around the world grow pessimistic about the economic recovery.

Nigeria's state oil company says that Nigeria, Algeria and Niger have signed an agreement to create a $10 billion trans-Saharan gas pipeline to ship gas to Europe.

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States rose by 11 this week to 928.

A dour report on job losses in June sent stocks sharply lower.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is proposing rules that it hopes will attract more private equity investors as buyers of failed banks.

Japanese electronics maker Hitachi is going to dramatically boost production of lithium-ion batteries for use in hybrid auto engines.

Iraq is planning to push back its second oil bidding round to develop 11 oil and gas fields after a disappointing showing in the first offer.

Orders to U.S. factories jumped in May by the largest amount in nearly a year, further evidence that the nosedive in manufacturing is nearing an end.

Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5%, suggesting that the economy's road to recovery will be a bumpy one.

Stock futures are extending their decline as the June unemployment rate hit a 26-year high.

The stock market's third quarter began on a positive note after some reassuring data on manufacturing and the housing market.

Google has quietly dropped a feature that allowed people mentioned in news stories to comment on the articles.

Lazy habits that are hurting your wallet.

Immigration officers are investigating workplaces in every state in the U.S. to check whether they are hiring illegal workers.

The economic downturn appears to be bringing out the worst in some people.

Ford Motor Co. says its June U.S. sales fell only 10.7 percent from a year earlier, a far smaller drop than in previous months and a sign that auto sales may be recovering.

The Iraqi government has approved an offer submitted by a consortium led by British giant BP PLC to develop the 17.8 billion barrel Rumaila oil field in the south.

Battered mortgage giant Freddie Mac has received $6.1 billion in new funds from the Treasury Department to help offset its mounting liabilities.

U.S. car companies General Motors and Ford say they are suspending operations on their production lines in Russia because the economic crisis is squeezing consumers' demand for new cars.