Unemployment in the Washington region reached its highest level in November since June 2003, inching up to 4.4 percent from 4.1 percent the month before.

Apple kicked off its final Macworld trade show in San Francisco yesterday with announcements about new versions of the company's photo management software and an update to its productivity suite. But in true Apple tradition, it was the company's "one last thing" that had people talking: ITunes wi...

Slowing tax revenues and a historic bailout of the U.S. financial system will send the budget deficit soaring toward $1 trillion this year, President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday, and the red ink stands to get substantially deeper if Obama wins approval of a massive economic stimulus plan.

Five former Blackwater Worldwide security guards pleaded not guilty yesterday to federal charges that they unleashed an unprovoked salvo of bullets and grenades in a busy Baghdad square in 2007, killing at least 14 Iraqi civilians and injuring 20 others.

The economy is set to remain weak well into this year, and could even be at risk of entering a "prolonged contraction," leaders of the Federal Reserve concluded last month, as they agreed to take aggressive new steps to contain the recession.

The service sector contracted in December for the third consecutive month, while orders at factories fell the previous month on weakening consumer demand, according to data released yesterday that highlighted the persistent weakness in the U.S. economy.

Stocks rose modestly yesterday as investors dismissed more poor economic news and crude oil prices briefly climbed back to $50 a barrel.

Businesses, governments and educational institutions reported nearly 50 percent more data breaches last year than in 2007, exposing the personal records of at least 35.7 million Americans, according to a nonprofit group that works to prevent identity fraud.

With sagging oil prices putting pressure on its own budget, the government of Venezuela has ended its three-year-old, $100 million program providing home heating-oil assistance for poor Americans in 23 states.

JetBlue Airways and two officials with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration have paid $240,000 to settle charges that they illegally discriminated against an Iraqi-born U.S. resident who was barred from a flight until he covered his T-shirt, which carried an Arabic phrase, his attorney...

President-elect Barack Obama arrived on Capitol Hill yesterday and immediately set to work reassuring skeptical Republicans about his massive economic stimulus package -- part of a campaign that earned him praise for seeking their input but questions from those averse to hundreds of billions of...

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced yesterday that he is afflicted with a protein-depleting hormone imbalance, and on Wall Street the news was greeted with a rally.

The government's billion-dollar program to help people prepare for the transition to digital television has run out of money, potentially leaving millions of viewers without coupons to buy converter boxes they need to keep their analog TV sets working after the switch.

The auto industry capped off 2008 with its worst sales in 16 years as Americans continued to steer clear of dealerships in December, according to sales figures released yesterday.

The inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday that he is broadening his investigation into the agency's failure to detect the alleged fraud committed by Bernard L. Madoff, examining whether the regulatory breakdown was isolated.

Stocks fell only slightly yesterday despite reports from automakers that their sales took another tumble last month.

My three vices in life (at least the ones I am willing to talk about) are fireworks, cigars and cocktails. And swanky hotels. Oh, and politically incorrect food like foie gras, and heart-stoppers like sweetbreads. Butter. Traveling first class. Sharp hats. Okay, so there are a lot more than three.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to be commerce secretary, withdrew from consideration yesterday, citing an ongoing federal "pay-to-play" investigation involving one of his political donors as a significant obstacle to his confirmation.

Lowering expectations for quick passage of an economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid rejected setting "some false deadline" for delivering legislation to President-elect Barack Obama in favor of a more deliberate approach that allows Congress to get the package right "the first...

In his first meeting of a recent day, Vivek Kundra stood in front of a large monitor, grilling employees about the status of projects to revamp technology in Washington's schools, police cars, jails and health clinics.