Economy

While some economists said this could signal job growth, some analysts have a more cautionary outlook. 

In 2008, the Federal Reserve set its target for interest rates near zero to help with the financial crisis. On Tuesday, the Fed guaranteed low interest rates for two more years.

Standard & Poor's downgrade of the government's credit rating has more to do with the volatile political climate than America's ability to pay its bills.

The U.S. downgrading could have a number of different repercussions.

For-profit college enrollment grew rapidly over the past decade amid renewed calls to increase the nation's college graduation rate and a need to help laid-off workers find new careers.

A day after Standard & Poor's lowered the nation's credit rating from AAA to AA+, Republicans and Democrats traded blame over the move.

The cost of healthy eating could make new nutritional guidelines difficult to meet, a study found. But according to other researchers, there are more factors to consider — for some people, expense is a choice. For others, it's not cost that's the issue — it's proximity.

Following the House's vote on Monday, the Senate followed suit with last-minute debt legislation on Tuesday.

School supplies, electronics and clothing will be exempt from state sales tax Friday through Sunday. Columbia sales tax will still apply.

Debt ceiling negotiations in Congress are a sign that government can work when it absolutely has to. But what a mess it was to reach an agreement before the U.S. defaulted for the first time in history.

Hazelwood officials announced Wednesday that the city council approved a measure to provide $3 million through economic development sales tax to help a British company build a plant to make hybrid electric vans.

House Speaker John Boehner's bill would raise the debt limit by $1 trillion while making cuts to federal spending of $1.2 trillion. He faced criticism from some conservatives in advance of an expected vote Wednesday.

The president spoke a few hours after first Republicans, then Democrats drafted rival fallback legislation Monday to avert a potentially devastating government default.

A June poll revealed that Americans' debt-related stress is up since the fall, but about half only charge items to credit cards when they can afford to pay for them at month's end.

Despite the large loss of jobs, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the state was not significantly altered.

Nationally, charitable donations declined in 2008 and 2009, then rose an estimated 3.8 percent across the board in 2010, according to the recently released Giving USA report. Locally, however, many nonprofits brought in percentage increases higher than the national average.

The new law will require grain dealers to set aside more money as a safeguard against insolvency.

Some Republican officials have begun to ask whether Gov. Jay Nixon is inappropriately citing the Joplin tornado as a reason to hold on to state dollars that had been due to public schools and other government programs.

Coupon clipping has helped some people save up to 90 percent on groceries. But on the other hand, it brings increased levels of frustration, long lines and sometimes empty shelves.

Loans through the Missouri Linked Deposit Program have affected about 4,000 jobs and farmers in Missouri this year, and participation is about 50 percent higher than it was last year.