Hawaii recorded its seventh consecutive increase in visitors in June, welcoming 625,522 last month, a 13.6 percent jump over June 2009, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported Wednesday.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 457,000 last week, a figure that signals the labor market will be slow to improve even as the economy grows.

Apartment landlords are seeing a surge in rentals as mounting foreclosures reduce homeownership and an improving job market for young adults encourages them to find their own places to live.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve should revive a crisis-era program to buy government debt if the country seems headed toward a bout with deflation, a Fed official said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Banking titan Citigroup Inc. is paying $75 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about its potential losses from subprime mortgages as the housing bust hit in 2007.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Banking titan Citigroup Inc. is paying $75 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about its potential losses from subprime mortgages as the housing bust hit in 2007.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says the government will recover all the taxpayer money his administration used to bail out the auto industry last year.

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) -- The Canadian Autoworkers Union says Ford Canada is laying off 489 employees at its engine plant in Windsor, Ontario.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Preparations for step one of a two-step attempt to plug the Gulf oil gusher are going well and it could start by the weekend, the government's point man for the spill response said Thursday.

(Bloomberg) -- Irish house prices fell at the slowest pace in two years in the second quarter as the country emerged from recession.

(Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices fell in July for the first time in five months as tighter lending conditions and concern that government cuts will slow economic growth deterred potential home buyers, Nationwide Building Society said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Estimates of the number of graves that might be affected by mix-ups at Arlington National Cemetery grew from hundreds to as many as 6,600 on Thursday, as the cemetery's former superintendent blamed his staff and a lack of resources for the scandal that forced his ouster.

(Bloomberg) -- Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's real estate firm paid $44 million for a townhome on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, adding to his property holdings in New York.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., where customers assemble their own stuffed animals, said Thursday that its second-quarter net loss widened to nearly twice what analysts expected, and its shares fell more than 20 percent.

Americans in the second quarter tapped the smallest amount of home equity in a decade, showing households are focused on repairing tattered finances.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Companies that promise to reduce or eliminate credit card balances and other debt for customers will no longer be allowed to charge an upfront fee.

HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba says its budget deficit came in far below forecasts in the first half of 2010, evidence that tax increases and deep spending cuts on food imports may be helping the communist government weather a severe economic crunch.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Bargain hunters are ready. Malls plan to be open longer. Stores are bringing in additional employees.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A bankruptcy judge in Wilmington is allowing limited access to a confidential report that criticizes the debt-laden buyout of newspaper publisher Tribune.

The White House says it's finally ready to consider new ideas for what to do about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Still absent from the government’s agenda is any serious effort to hold anyone accountable for their ruin or investigate why they collapsed.

How could the canny Charlie Rangel let it come to this, chased by reporters from here to Harlem hammering him about what he's going to do about allegations that he misused his office?

The New York Yankees like to talk about pinstripe pride. The aura, the team incessantly reminds us, envelopes all who don the no-names-on-the-back uniform once worn by Ruth and Reggie, Gehrig and Munson, Mantle, Maris and DiMaggio, who thanked the good Lord for making him a Yankee.

PARIS (AP) -- Police on Thursday questioned the French labor minister about his relationship with the billionaire L'Oreal cosmetics heiress in an investigation into a scandal that has reached the highest levels of President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks ended an erratic day with a modest loss Thursday as investors tried to reconcile another batch of conflicting economic signals.

NEW YORK (AP) -- New applications for unemployment benefits fell last week for the third time in four weeks, a sign layoffs may be slowing. But jobless benefit claims remain above 450,000, an elevated level that also indicates companies aren't hiring large numbers of new workers.

SUMMIT, N.J. (AP) -- Biotech drugmaker Celgene Corp. said Thursday its second-quarter net income jumped 44 percent on higher sales of cancer drugs, prompting a boost in full-year guidance.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tyco International Ltd., a Swiss diversified manufacturer, said Thursday that its third-quarter net income slid 11 percent as a series of expenses cut into results.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported a $28 million second-quarter profit Thursday in contrast to a loss a year ago as demand for its tires increased worldwide, especially in the key U.S. market.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Investigators in the UAE are looking into whether a Japanese tanker damaged at the mouth of the Persian Gulf was involved in a collision, backing away from an earlier theory that natural causes were to blame, the top port official where the vessel is moored said Thursday.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Life Technologies Corp., a life sciences and medical research tools company, said Thursday its second-quarter net income surged on a boost in sales.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Five Louisiana metropolitan areas posted year-to-year increases in foreclosure activity during the first half of 2010, according to a national study released Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Clearwire Corp., which is building a nationwide wireless network, on Thursday said Best Buy Co. will resell access to the network starting next year.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of rare earth metals producer Molycorp are dropping after the company priced shares of its initial public offering below expectations, raising $393.8 million.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- An expert on marine sciences and coastal circulation says it's unlikely oil from BP's massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico will reach the East Coast.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Computer giant IBM is teaming up with Carnegie Mellon University on a research lab to develop technologies to help governments better manage their infrastructure.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level on record for the fifth time in six weeks, making homebuying and refinancing the most attractive in decades for those who can get loans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New jobless claims fell last week for the third time in four weeks but remain elevated. The decline is a sign that the economy likely added jobs in July, although not enough to lower the nation's high unemployment rate.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A food-industry executive armed with the secret to the "nooks and crannies" in Thomas' English muffins can't work for a rival amid a trade-secret lawsuit.

PHOENIX (AP) -- The Arizona congressman who called for convention and other visitor boycotts of Arizona to protest its immigration enforcement law now says national groups should return their meetings to the state because a judge has put key parts of the law on hold.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. is releasing two new models of its Kindle e-reader. Both are smaller and lighter than the current Kindle, and one is cheaper because it shuns 3G cellular network access in favor of Wi-Fi for downloading books on the fly.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Jeff Bezos isn't just confident you'll want a Kindle e-book reader. The CEO of Amazon.com is bracing for a future in which you'll also want ones for your kid heading to college, your spouse in a book club and perhaps even Grandpa.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Aerospace supplier Goodrich Corp. said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 10.2 percent after a year-ago quarter inflated by special items. But its operating profit rose, and it raised its guidance for the full year.

LONDON (AP) -- World stock markets mostly rose Thursday after another batch of positive earnings and further evidence that Europe's economy is recovering faster than previously expected.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- McClatchy Co.'s second-quarter earnings plunged as the newspaper publisher shouldered higher costs on its debt to buy more time to recover from a bedeviling ad slump.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its second quarter income nearly doubled to $7.56 billion as oil prices increased from last year.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Motorola Inc. on Thursday reported a sharply higher profit for the second quarter and stabilized its long revenue decline as it strategy of focusing on smart phones like the Droid bore fruit.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose Thursday as better-than-expected earnings from ExxonMobil Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and others bolstered hope for an improving economy.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Increased confidence in Europe's debt situation and economic conditions make the U.S. and Japan's global equity markets a less attractive bet than before.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's election-year jobs agenda suffered a new setback Thursday when Senate Republicans blocked a bill creating a $30 billion government fund to help open up lending for credit-starved small businesses.

NEW YORK (AP) -- MetLife Inc. said Thursday that strong investment gains and a bump in premium revenues pushed it to a profit in the second quarter.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Toyota is recalling nearly half a million cars, most of them large sedans sold in the U.S., for problems that can cause the steering wheel to lock up. It's the latest indication that the automaker is still struggling with vehicle problems even as it works to overhaul quality control.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Moody's Investors Service on Thursday upgraded Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., saying the company has paid down debt and improved its operating performance over the past year.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Biotechnology company Amgen Inc. said Thursday that its second-quarter net income slipped 5 percent, mainly on higher taxes, but the results topped Wall Street expectations.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two iconic American brands are getting hitched.

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Casino operator Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s second-quarter profit doubled to $52.4 million with help from its new resort in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, the company said Thursday.

HOUSTON (AP) -- Oilfield service provider National Oilwell Varco Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit nearly doubled despite a dip in revenue from lower offshore rig fabrication sales. The results beat Wall Street expectations.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co., the worldís largest maker of video-game consoles, posted its first quarterly loss in more than two years as the stronger yen cut the value of overseas earnings and demand for DS handheld players fell.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf said customers, not just the bank, will bear the financial burden for U.S. regulations that cover services ranging from home loans to credit cards.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos cut prices and added features to the Kindle to defend it against a threat from Apple Inc. in the fast- growing market for electronic readers.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, the U.S. and plaintiffs who filed hundreds of lawsuits seeking billions of dollars for damages stemming from the largest oil spill in U.S. history are fighting over where the cases should be heard first.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating life insurance companiesí practice of putting veterans’ death benefits in corporate accounts and keeping most of the investment profits instead of paying the survivors.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- MEG Energy Corp. raised C$700 million ($674 million) in an initial public offering of stock after the Canadian oil-sands developer partly owned by Chinaís Cnooc Ltd. slashed the deal’s size as much as 37 percent.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is looking into complaints from iPhone users who say their handsets arenít performing as well after an upgrade to the most recent version of the device’s operating system.