America's battered housing sector also got a dose of encouraging news, with a national index reporting a three percent jump in housing prices in the second quarter of this year.

VOA: standard.2009.08.25

Larger prospects for growth are being proclaimed by government officials after this year's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, which brought an end to a quarter century of civil war.

VOA: standard.2009.11.09

He notes that is an optimistic figure. Economic figures recently released by the Russian Federal Statistics Service show the GDP declined in the first quarter of this year by 9.5 percent.

VOA: standard.2009.05.25

"There are almost a quarter of a million concealed handgun permit holders in Virginia alone and this will allow them again to have a choice when they go out to eat."

VOA: standard.2010.07.06

Silvia expects the situation to improve soon. "I would suspect that the jobs numbers would turn positive by the second quarter of this year, so probably another two or three months out we'll get some positive jobs numbers."

VOA: standard.2010.03.02

Asian stocks rose after the DOW Jones industrial average passed the psychologically important Cohen says it is not clear how much longer markets can continue the strong gains, but says it is unlikely they will return to the crisis environment of the first quarter of this year.

VOA: standard.2009.10.15