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Jeannine Aversa

FILE - In his March 1, 2011 file photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke tetsifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Banking Committee. The United States has never defaulted on its debt and leaders from both parties say they dont want it to happen now. But with partisan acrimony running at fever pitch, and Democrats and Republicans far apart on how to tame the deficit, anything could happen. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) (AP)

U.S. adds jobs, but unemployment up to 9 percent

Jeannine Aversa

In this Jan. 18, 2011, photo Tanya Fiddler and Mark Shupick of the Four Bands Community Fund look over a case file in Eagle Butte, S.D. Four Bands teaches residents basic financial skills, looks for ways to bring in jobs and help those who are fighting unemployment and poverty. In the barren grasslands of Ziebach County, there's almost nothing harder to find in winter than a job. This is America's poorest county, where more than 60 percent of people live at or below the poverty line. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer) (AP)

Unemployment aid requests fall to near 3-year low

Jeannine Aversa

Copies of President Obama's 2012 budget are delivered to the Senate Budget Committee, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)

Deficit makes up biggest share of economy since 1945

Jeannine Aversa, Christopher S. Rugaber

Bernanke defends Bush’s tax cuts, inflation

Jeannine Aversa

Economic growth slightly faster than first thought

Jeannine Aversa

Federal Reserve orders new “stress tests” for banks

Jeannine Aversa

Federal Reserve will buy U.S. debt

Jeannine Aversa

Regulators OK plan to police banks’ pay policies

Jeannine Aversa

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble makes a telephone call prior to a meeting of the cabinet at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, May 19, 2010. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Wednesday for tougher financial regulation and a crackdown on government debt, saying the future of the euro currency and a united Europe itself were at stake. Merkel urged lawmakers to pass Germany's share of a new 750 billion euro (US dlrs 1 trillion) eurozone rescue package, saying that defending the shared European currency is "about no more and no less than the preservation of the European idea." (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (AP)

Europe debt crisis stirs recession fear

Matt Moore, Jeannine Aversa

Fed boss didn’t know Lehman masked its debt

Jeannine Aversa

Fed’s ‘Beige Book’ survey: Recovery is spreading; jobs still weak

Jeannine Aversa

Government sends $3.8 billion more to GM

Jeannine Aversa, Stephen Manning