Denver Post Real Estate/Business

U.S. shoppers were careful in January after their holiday spending, but retailers still managed to get their clearance items out the door, data reported Thursday showed.

During a contentious hearing before federal lawmakers, Ben Bernanke defended the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates at record-low levels for the next three years.

Europe needs to double the size of its bailout fund to $1.3 trillion if it is to shore up its banking system and stop the spread of its spiraling debt crisis, according to a paper published Thursday by the economic organization that represents developed countries.

Economists forecast that a Labor Department report out today may show employers boosted payrolls in January and the jobless rate held at an almost three-year low.

A former executive at the collapsed brokerage MF Global testified Thursday that he warned then-chief executive Jon Corzine a year before the company went under about the risks of making large bets on European government debt.

Investors coasted Thursday, leaving stocks unchanged while they looked ahead to today for a major jobs report. U.S. government bonds hardly moved, and neither did European stocks.

In a milestone for one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies, Facebook on Wednesday filed papers announcing a $5 billion initial public offering of stock in the world's biggest social-networking business.

American Airlines said Wednesday that it wanted to cut 13,000 jobs and terminate its workers' pension plans as it seeks to cut employee costs by 20 percent while operating in bankruptcy court.

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks had a big January, and they're starting February strong too.

DETROIT — Higher sales of Jeeps and other new vehicles propelled Chrysler to its first annual net income since 1997, capping a pivotal turnaround that many thought would never happen.

DETROIT — New-vehicle sales in the United States were unexpectedly strong in January, an early sign that the auto industry could have its best year since 2007, carmakers and analysts

It looks like Americans are starting to doubt that the economy in 2012 will be that much better than it was last year.

Denver home prices slipped in November from the month before, dipping 0.5 percent, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released Tuesday.

It's the best start for stocks in 15 years. In what was mostly a slow and steady climb, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.4 percent in January, and the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 4.4 percent — the best performances for both indexes to open a year since 1997.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday unveiled a one-year economic-development plan aimed at retaining the city's top businesses and helping small businesses thrive.

NEW YORK — The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday.

LOS ANGELES — Consumers had more money in their pockets in December, but fewer people decided to spend it, choosing instead to tuck the extra funds away in their savings.

BRUSSELS — All European Union countries except Britain and the Czech Republic agreed Monday to sign on to a new treaty designed to stop overspending on the eurozone and put an end to

Technology professionals in the Denver area saw their average annual pay increase 4 percent in 2011 to $86,590, outpacing the national increase of about 2 percent, according to a latest salary survey by Dice.com.