The U.S. current account deficit widened in the first quarter to $109.0 billion, or 3 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, from a sharply smaller estimate for the fourth quarter of 2009, a Commerce Department report said on Thursday. Global Markets It was the third consecutive quarterly inc...

A record share of U.S. mortgages were in foreclosure in the first quarter as job losses caused homebuyers to fall behind on monthly payments, thwarting government efforts to stem property seizures. The inventory of homes in foreclosure rose to 4.63 percent from 4.58 percent in the fourth quarter...

New Zealand retail sales rose less than expected by economists in the first quarter, which may prompt central bank Governor Alan Bollard to delay an increase in interest rates until the third quarter. Sales, adjusted for inflation, increased 0.2 percent from the fourth quarter when they gained a ...

The French economy barely expanded in the first quarter as export demand helped manufacturers and made up for lackluster consumer spending. Gross domestic product increased 0.1 percent in the three months through March, after climbing a revised 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, Paris-based stat...

Germany's first-quarter gross domestic product, adjusted for price, calendar and seasonal effects, rose 0.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, the Federal Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. Most economists expected a decline of 0.1% quarter-on-quarter. Compared to the same period a year...

U.K. recorded a current account deficit of GBP 1.7 billion in the fourth quarter, which accounts for 0.5% of gross domestic product, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. This compares with a revised deficit of GBP 5.9 billion in the third quarter. Economists had...

The U.K. economy emerged from recession in the fourth quarter at a faster pace than previously estimated, providing a boost for Prime Minister Gordon Brown with a general election weeks away. Gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent from the third quarter, compared with a previous calculation of ...

Switzerland's economic recovery gathered speed at the end of last year as growth broadened, reflecting a faster-than-expected rebound from the worst recession in more than three decades. Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the third quarter after seasonal adjustm...

Canada's economy grew by 5.0% at an annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2009, marking an economic recovery somewhat ahead of analysts' expectations of 4.5% growth. Real GDP growth was 1.2% in the fourth quarter over the third, said by Statistics Canada to be "the largest quarterly increase ...

The median forecast of analysts surveyed by Reuters on Friday is for gross domestic product to have risen by an annualized 4 percent in the fourth quarter, helped by a robust housing sector and a pickup in exports. That follows an annualized output gain of 0.4 percent in the third quarter, the of...