President Barack Obama says college students shouldn't have to pay higher interest rates on their loans just because Congress can't get its act together.

Economists are also increasingly focused on weakening oil demand. American oil consumption has dropped 5.3 percent in the first quarter.

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service is urging the House to quickly pass legislation to let it close low-revenue post offices and eliminate Saturday delivery.

Natural gas prices are up 4 percent after the government said supplies grew less than expected last week.

U.S. service companies, which employ roughly 90 percent of the work force, expanded more slowly in April.

Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, offering more incentive for Americans to buy or refinance homes.

General Motors earned $1 billion in the first quarter as a strong performance in North America helped it overcome troubles in Europe.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in more than three months. The figure was a hopeful sign one day before the government releases the April jobs report.

A new report indicates that St. Louis is a great travel destination for cheapskates.

A private survey shows U.S. businesses sharply reduced hiring in April, a troubling sign two days before the government reports on monthly job growth.

Everyone's looking for ways to lessen the costs of driving. Here are some tips to cut down on your car insurance bill.

The Labor Department says Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is paying $4.8 million in back wages and damages to more than 4,500 employees nationwide for unpaid overtime.

Retailers are paying significantly less every time a customer swipes a debit card under a rule capping the fees that banks are allowed to charge.

Lending to small business is slowing, possibly a sign of deteriorating confidence in the economy from entrepreneurs.

Oil is down slightly on concerns of growing economic troubles in Europe.

Global unemployment will hit 202 million this year, or 6.1 percent, as debt-driven austerity measures hammer job markets and threaten to drive Europe into recession, the U.N. labor agency predicted Monday.

The U.S. economy grew more slowly in the first three months of this year

Natural gas futures are rising off 10-year lows Thursday as drillers cut production in response to lower prices and utilities use more of the cheap fuel to generate electricity.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has dipped to near its record low, keeping home-buying and refinancing affordable.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits remained stuck near a three-month high last week, a sign that hiring has likely slowed since winter.

President Barack Obama tells a boisterous crowd of students that keeping federal student loan rates low is as much about helping the broader economy as it is about meeting their financial needs.

The impending shutdown of the Nextel network doubled Sprint Nextel Corp.'s loss in the first quarter, as it wrote down the value of the network and subscribers kept leaving it.

The U.S. trustee has objected to Kodak's plan to pay $13.5 million in bonuses to persuade certain employees to stay with the company as it reorganizes under bankruptcy protection.

The president was speaking at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The government says a bad economy and higher energy prices have worsened the finances of Social Security, shortening the life of the trust funds that support the program by three years.