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The euro zone economy jumped out of recession in the third quarter, data showed on Friday, but with slightly less spring than expected after the area’s top three economies fell short of market forecasts.

Gross domestic product in the 16 countries using the euro rose 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter after five consecutive quarters of shrinking output, but was 4.1 percent lower year-on-year.

Economists polled by Reuters had on average forecast quarterly growth of 0.5 percent and a 3.9 percent annual decline.

Germany, France and Italy all reported a third-quarter increase in economic output, but the German 0.7 percent quarterly growth was below expectations of 0.8 percent, the French 0.3 percent increase only half of what was expected and the Italian 0 faxless payday loans.6 percent fell short of the 0.7 percent consensus.

The growth ends the deepest economic downturn in Europe since World War Two, brought on by a global financial crisis, but economists say recovery is likely to remain fragile.

The European Commission forecast on November 3 that fourth-quarter growth would slow to 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the last three months of 2009 and then to 0.1 percent in the first two quarters of 2010.

Growth is seen accelerating steadily from the third quarter of 2010 to reach 0.5 percent in the second quarter of 2011.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)

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Research In Motion has rolled out an updated version of its top-end BlackBerry Bold, aiming to reassert its dominance in the professional market at a time when its retail consumer business has come under growing pressure from Apple’s iPhone.

The latest Bold, part of a series of new devices that Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM plans to bring to market in the next 12 months, is designed for business executives, lawyers, politicians and other professionals, a market that the company still rules.

But in the broader consumer market, RIM has seen stiff competition from Apple’s iPhone and handsets from rivals such as Nokia.

The new Bold is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, which hit the market last year, and replaces the original Bold’s track ball with an optical track pad. The new model also features a faster Web browser.

The Bold’s new features are aimed at defending the business market from the Apple threat, and also at attracting wealthier retail users.

“RIM still isn’t in a position where it has any one device that can be considered an iPhone killer,” said independent technology analyst Carmi Levy.

“Apple is in a position of power in this market and you are either aware of their strategy and you counter it in some way, or you find another business to be in payday loans with no fax.”

Apple reported on Monday it sold 7.4 million iPhones in its last quarter and it posted earnings that handily beat Wall Street forecasts, pushing its stock to record highs.

RIM, meanwhile, has stumbled. Late last month, it reported results and an outlook that disappointed investors and sent its shares tumbling more than 15 percent.

APPS AND SECURITY

RIM’s main counter to the iPhone is the BlackBerry Storm, a well-selling touchscreen smartphone similar to Apple’s device.

RIM unveiled a new version of the Storm last week, and it has to continue to wow retail users with sleek, fashionable handsets if it is to succeed against Apple.

Software is equally important, said Research Capital analyst Nick Agostino.

From games to calendars and from horoscopes to news summaries, applications are playing an increasingly important role in attracting users. Indeed, the success of Apple’s application store prompted RIM to open its own in April.

As apps continue to get more sophisticated, RIM could find an advantage in its reputation for providing what some view as unmatched security on its smartphones, Agostino said. 

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A government watchdog says federal officials weren’t entirely honest with the public about the health of the first 9 financial firms that got federal bailouts, according to a report released Monday.

Bailout special inspector general Neil Barofsky says in an audit that Treasury Department officials painted an overly rosy picture, creating "unrealistic expectations," when they called the first bailout banks "healthy" institutions that would be able to lend more with government help.

"It is not our intent to suggest that government officials should make public their concerns over the financial health of individual institutions, but rather that government officials should be particularly careful, even in a time of crisis, of describing their actions (and the rationales for such actions) in an accurate manner," the report stated.

Treasury appeared to disagree with the assessment of the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SigTARP), saying "people may differ" on the phrasing of the original bailout announcements.

"Any review of the announcements must be considered in light of the unprecedented circumstances in which they were made," wrote TARP chief Herb Allison in response to the SigTARP report.

Separately, the new audit looks into charges that federal officials strong-armed Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) into completing its planned purchase of Merrill Lynch, even as BofA worried about mounting losses at Merrill in late 2008. Further, the report looks into whether officials pressured BofA to conceal those losses from its shareholders.

Barofsky gives the major players the benefit of the doubt. He acknowledges that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson wanted the deal to go through, fearing the potential failure of Merrill Lynch and the "collateral damage to the economy."

But Barofsky "found nothing to indicate Treasury and Federal Reserve officials instructed Bank of America executives to withhold the public disclosure of losses."

SigTARP is also involved in a separate criminal investigation, led by the New York Attorney General’s Office, into the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch merger. The report doesn’t mention that investigation.

Barofsky’s office was created by the 2008 law that established the $700 billion federal bailout program. This audit is the fourth completed so far by SigTARP in recent months; the first looked at how banks said they used their bailout dollars.

SigTARP has opened 35 ongoing criminal and civil investigations looking for fraud, with a focus on banks that falsely applied for a bailout and those that used the TARP name in scams.

In the newest audit of the bailouts to the first 9 firms, SigTARP points out that the Federal Reserve had concerns about the financial health of several of these firms and that former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was concerned that one would even "outright fail."

The report says that officials’ portrayal of the bailout banks as healthy eventually contributed to a loss of credibility in TARP, when the firms did not lend more and when more bailouts were given to Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Bank of America.

"Ultimately, the lesson is straightforward: accuracy and transparency will enhance the credibility of Government programs like TARP and restore taxpayer confidence in the policy makers who manage them," the report said. "Inaccurate statements, on the other hand, could have unintended long-term consequences that could damage the trust that the American people have in their government." 

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Contegra Construction of Edwardsville has begun work on a two-story, 21,000-square-foot headquarters office building for The Kean Insurance Group at 135 West Adams Street in downtown Kirkwood.

Keane, which leases space at 10777 Sunset Office Drive in Sunset Hills, is one of the largest brokers of professional liability insurance for physicians in the nation. In addition to St. Louis, it has branch offices in Austin, Texas; Chicago; and Kansas City empire payday loans.

The building will host 60 employees of Keane and KIG Healthcare Solutions, Inc, an affiliate. The estimated completion value is $6 million.

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U.S. consumer sentiment rose in late September to the highest since January 2008 as expectations of an economic rebound gathered momentum, a survey showed on Friday.

The data added to indications the economy is pulling out of a lengthy recession more powerfully than many analysts had expected a few months ago, although doubts persist about how much staying power the rebound may have.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final index of sentiment for September rose to 73.5 from 65.7 in August. This was above economists’ median expectation for a reading of 70.3, according to a Reuters poll.

The index of consumer expectations rose to 73.5, the highest in two years, from 65.0 in August.

U.S. stock indexes initially bounced on the news but then slipped, while Treasury debt prices were off slightly and the dollar fell against the yen and euro.

“The same pace of gains in confidence continued in late September as the economic news reaching consumers grew even more positive,” the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said in a statement. “Consumers reported that the economy had already begun to improve and anticipated further gains in the year ahead.”

The index of current conditions rose to 73.4 in late September from 66.6 in August.

“It looks like people feel better about both current conditions and the future. If we can only get business sentiment to improve a bit more, we’d probably go from a yellow light to a green light,” said Gary Thayer, macro strategist with Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis. “If business sentiment picks up, the job situation would improve and consumer sentiment will improve further.”

The survey’s 12-month economic outlook jumped to 88 in late September from 69 in late August.

“The data provide considerable evidence that the economy has already begun to recover,” the Reuters/UMich statement said. “Nonetheless, the pace of gains in consumer spending are still expected to be slower than usual due to expected lags in job and income gains as well as the renewed desires of consumers to save and the more limited availability of credit.”

(Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich)

(Reporting by John Parry; Editing by James Dalgleish and Dan Grebler)

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The first 10 firms due to list on China’s Nasdaq-style second board, ChiNext, plan to sell shares at prices 50 percent above their mainboard peers, just as worries over speculation spurred officials to tighten trading rules.

After gauging investor demand, the 10 start-up companies, including software developer Beijing Ultrapower and outdoor sportswear maker Toread, have decided on prices for their shares that average 55 times their 2008 earnings.

That compares with an average price/earnings ratio of 36 for other initial public share offerings this year on the mainland.

“Growth potential, rather than past performance, is what investors are looking at, so a high PE ratio doesn’t necessarily mean they’re over-priced,” said Jiang Jianrong, analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

“But without doubt it will be quite a speculative market at the beginning because it’s new and the companies are very small.”

To curb risks, the second board for start-ups, to be launched as soon as next month in China’s southern boomtown of Shenzhen, will set an 80 percent limit on share price movements during the first day of trade, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said on Thursday.

China is hoping that ChiNext could provide badly needed financing for the private sector, which has difficulty obtaining bank loans but is crucial to creating jobs and sustaining growth.

Beijing is also hoping that the market could become a cradle for China’s own future versions of Microsoft or Intel, helping to cut the economy’s reliance on manufacturing.

The 10 companies, which also include drug producer Chongqing Lummy Pharmaceutical and Beijing Lanxum Technology Co, a provider of office information system services, will take subscriptions from investors on Friday.

NARROW THE GAP

“Our rival Fuji Xerox is stronger than us both in branding and in financial strength,” said Lanxum Chairman Chi Yanming. “Listing on the second board would help us to narrow the gap.”

Lanxum, which is selling 5.3 million shares, said on Thursday that it plans to raise 477 million yuan ($70 million), 73 percent more than its previous fund-raising target, after pricing its IPO at 18 yuan per share, or 51.49 times its 2008 earnings.

Lepu Medical, a medical equipment maker, plans to raise 1.19 billion yuan, more than double its target, after pricing its IPO at 29 yuan a share, or 53.54 times its 2008 earnings. Lepu shares were 117.12 times over-subscribed during the road show.

Investor fervour is initially likely to push stocks on the start-up board to excessively high valuations, helping to create new Chinese billionaires.

“Some speculation is not always a bad thing. It provides easy money to private companies which had been at a disadvantage in financing compared with state-owned rivals,” said Shenyin & Wanguo’s Jiang. 

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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s administration released new fuel economy standards Tuesday in hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The fuel economy standards, unveiled by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, would hold domestic automakers to a 35.5 miles-per-gallon standard by 2016.

The new goal would harmonize U.S. fuel economy standards after years of differences between California’s ambitious requirements and more modest national goals.

Tuesday’s proposed regulations are a result of Obama’s May agreement with automakers, states and the environmental community to tighten fuel efficiency and emissions standards, ending years of litigation over regulations. This plan goes even further than a 2007 law that set a nonbinding goal of 35 mpg by 2020.

Democrats and environmentalists applauded the administration action. But conservatives criticized the changes because of the extra costs that might be placed on consumers.

Administrators estimated earlier this year that the cost of the new requirements to automakers would be $1,300 per vehicle. But the National Highway Traffic and Safety Commission and EPA predict that the new standards will save drivers $3,000 in fuel costs during the lifetime of a model year 2016 vehicle absolutely free credit report. They will also conserve 1.8 billion barrels of oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 950 million metric tons.

Tuesday’s announcement indicated a federal embrace of fuel economy standards first established by California but rejected by the EPA in 2007 during the Bush administration. After Obama’s administration negotiated some changes in the requirements with the states, California’s standards in effect became a federal program.

The plan "is an important step toward harmonizing federal regulations and development of a single national standard that is reasonable and predictable," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

But Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the top Republican on the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, said the new regulations "will exact a heavy price on the American people for no climate benefit." The Obama plan "will not enhance America’s energy security," Inhofe contended, "and, in fact, will make new cars more expensive and less safe."

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This Labour Day weekend, Justin Riem feels lucky just to have a job.

Last week he became vice-president of finance at McKenna Logistics Centres, a Mississauga warehouse and distribution firm.

He had been out of work since mid-January. "It certainly had its ups and downs. I applied for a ton of jobs," he said, adding that he has a three-inch binder filled with the 220 applications he sent out.

Riem was among the Canadians who found work last month as the economy added 27,100 jobs overall, mainly in part-time work and the private sector, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

Still, the unemployment rate edged up by one-tenth of a percentage point from July, to 8.7 per cent, its highest level in 11 years, as more Canadians began looking for work.

In Toronto, employment grew, but so did the labour force, and that pushed the rate up by 0.1 of a point, to 10.1 per cent, in August.

Most economists called the report another positive sign that the economy is beginning to rebound.

There were 30,600 part-time jobs created in August, while 3,500 full-time positions were cut, for a net gain of 27,100 jobs, StatsCan said.

Overall, the private sector added 49,200 jobs (the first rise since last September), while the public sector lost 11,500 positions and self-employment fell by 10,600.

"It wasn’t perfect but it was at least a step in the right direction," said Derek Holt, vice-president, economics, at Scotia Capital.

Job gains in retail, finance, insurance and real estate offset losses in business, construction and manufacturing low interest auto loans. Since October, Canada has lost 387,000 jobs, but only 31,000 of those have come in the last five months.

"In the five months following the employment peak of October 2008, employment fell in almost all industries, especially manufacturing and construction," StatsCan said. "In the past five months … while manufacturing has continued its decline, employment in construction has stabilized and it has increased in most service industries."

Economists are cautious. Holt said the positive report for August "doesn’t mean there’s a jobs bonanza around the corner. It’s one month’s improvement on a notoriously volatile indicator. … We would still expect ongoing job losses in key segments of the economy over the coming year."

StatsCan reported in April that the economy added 35,900 jobs, though the gains vanished the following month. "The true job market recovery will occur only when businesses gain enough confidence to boost hiring for three consecutive months," said economist Jimmy Jean of Moody’s Economy.com.

There were about 50,000 Canadians looking for work last month. Students continued to bear the brunt of the brutal job market with the average jobless rate for the summer hitting 19.2 per cent, the second highest since 1977.

Employment rose in Ontario, Quebec and B.C., but the biggest increases were in Newfoundland and Manitoba. Alberta and Saskatchewan were weak spots.

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Bank of America is offering to repay part of the U.S. government bailout money, starting with the $20 billion it received in January to help with the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website late on Monday.

The government is meanwhile pushing the bank to pay up to $500 million to end a tentative pact that would have had the government share Bank of America’s losses on certain assets, added the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Bank of America is not offering to repay all of the $45 billion in taxpayer funds it received from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, the report said.

The repayment of $20 billion, however, would remove the bank from the list of “exceptional” aid recipients, a designation that brings more congressional scrutiny payday loan online.

The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve have asked the bank to pay between $300 million and $500 million to end a tentative plan that would have seen the government absorb a portion of losses on assets owned by Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, the report said.

In exchange, the plan called for the bank to issue $4 billion in preferred stock to the Treasury, costing it about $320 million a year, the report said.

A Bank of America spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

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The Bank of Israel raised the benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, the first central bank to lift rates since signs of an easing in the global recession started in the second quarter.

Governor Stanley Fischer increased the lending rate to 0.75 percent, the Jerusalem-based central bank said Monday, after keeping it at a record low since March. Two of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the increase, while the rest expected Fischer to hold the rate steady.

The decision "strikes a balance between the need to moderate inflation and the need to continue to support the recent recovery in economic activity," the bank said. "Setting the interest rate at the low level of 0.75 percent continues to represent an expansionary monetary policy."

Fischer has been backing away from economic stimulus measures since July 27, after the inflation rate slid into the target range for only one month before rebounding back out. The Israeli, French, German and Japanese economies all returned to growth in the second quarter, prompting Fischer to say on Friday at a meeting of bank governors at Jackson Hole, Wyo., that "the first signs of global growth have appeared."

"You can read this as the first hike in the recovery cycle," said Shahin Vallee, an emerging-markets currency strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London. "Poland could be next."

Israel posted inflation rates of 3.5 percent in July and 3.6 percent in June, above the 1 percent to 3 percent target range.

"We have a picture of economic recovery right now, which you see elsewhere in the world," said Jonathan Katz, an economist at HSBC Securities who predicted the increase. At the same time, "Israel is one of the few countries in the world where inflation is running above target at three and half percent, and Fischer’s mandate is to try and bring it down between 1 and 3 percent."

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