Economic News from Yahoo!

AP - Yet when it comes to the federal No Child Left Behind law, the school hasn't lived up to expectations. Last year, 79 percent of students had to be at grade level in reading and 80 percent in math. Overall, the students exceeded those goals. But two groups — English language learners and the economically disadvantaged — did not.

Reuters - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed confidence that a second bailout package for Greece would be finalized next week, but said Athens needed to implement structural reforms to restore confidence in its economy.

AP - President Barack Obama is making a strong election-year push for an economic revival "built on American manufacturing." But he faces an uphill slog, with little consensus even within his own party on how to do it.

Reuters - China's imports in January fell the most since the depths of the global financial crisis, raising concerns that demand may be weaker than previously thought even allowing for Lunar New Year factory shutdowns.

Reuters - Greek workers went on strike against austerity measures on Friday, docking ships and halting public transport, hours after euro zone finance ministers said Athens needed to make more cuts to convince them to release a financial bailout.

AP - Oil prices fell to near $99 a barrel Friday in Asia as encouraging news about the U.S. economy was tempered by European demands for Greece to make further spending cuts before getting a new bailout.

Reuters - Trying to track China's economic course during the Lunar New Year can leave analysts howling at the moon. January auto sales tumbled, yet oil imports were the third highest on record. A measure of factory activity picked up, but trade data was weak.

Reuters - The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, the latest sign of recovery in the labor market.

AP - Eager for Europe to contain its economic troubles, President Barack Obama praised Italian Premier Mario Monti on Thursday for his efforts to lead Italy out of its fiscal quagmire. The president said Monti has boosted confidence in Italy throughout Europe and in the marketplace.

AP - Michigan's governor said Thursday that the state should capitalize on its brightest economic outlook in a decade by opening its checkbook to school districts — but only those that can show their students actually are learning from year to year.

AP - The price of natural gas jumped Thursday after a major producer said it is aggressively cutting production.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday it has reached an agreement with five U.S. banks on penalties totaling $766.5 million over problems in their mortgage servicing businesses as part of a larger $25 billion foreclosure deal struck between the banks and state and federal agencies.

AP - Vice President Joe Biden says he's convinced America is better positioned than other nations to continue to lead the world's economy — whether or not his boss is still in charge.

AP - House-Senate negotiations on extending jobless benefits and a two percentage point cut in the payroll tax remained stalled Thursday, despite a proposal in which Democrats urged a modest six-week cut in the maximum time unemployed workers can receive jobless benefits.

Reuters - The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, the latest sign of recovery in the labor market.

Reuters - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi opened the door on Thursday to helping Athens indirectly after Greek politicians finally signed up to an austerity package following days of dither and delay.

AP - South Africa's president announced ambitious infrastructure projects Thursday, laying out his plans for creating jobs and hope in nation harder hit than most in Africa by global recession.

AP - The White House is lauding a rosier election-year economic forecast, predicting the economy could add two million jobs this year. But the upbeat projection is based partly on the shaky premise that Congress will sign off on President Barack Obama's jobs agenda.

Reuters - President Barack Obama will forecast a U.S. unemployment rate averaging 8.9 percent in 2012 in his annual budget on Monday - but before the document was even released a top aide called the projection "stale" and said it should be lower.

AP - Wholesale businesses increased their stockpiles sharply in December although the gains are expected to slow in coming months, a development that could curb overall economic growth.