The unemployment rate in the United States increased to 8.3 percent in July even if 163,000 new jobs were created. Friday’s job report showed that payrolls have an upward trend for the past two years, with an average of around 150,000 new jobs per month. The pace is measly compared with the millions of jobs lost during the recession that started late 2007. Compared with the job recovery after the past two recessions, the job growth at present is just what the analysts have expected. It was lukewarm... 

In the United States, banks are starting to separate their commercial and investment banking operations. According to banking analyst Meredith Whitney, there’s no need for any radical breakup as suggested by former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill. Whitney is the founder of the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group. She said that any draconian moves to split up banks are unnecessary. Weill earlier told CNBC that he thinks it’s the right time to break up big banks to prevent a repeat of the large taxpayer... 

The trade deficit in the United States decreased in May from April. This was due to cheaper oil that decreased imports and an increase in exports to China and Europe. Economists warned that the global economy had weakened since May. Economists noted that the decline in the deficit didn’t change the growth estimates for the second quarter. The Commerce Department said that the trade deficit decreased 3.8 percent to $48.7 billion in May. This was down from $50.6 billion in April. Exports went up...