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U.S. producer prices fell in May after two month of solid gains, but the decline was not enough to change perceptions that inflation pressures are steadily creeping up. The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand slipped 0.2 percent after advancing in April by 0.6 percent, which was the largest gain in 1-1/2 years. Economists, who had expected producer prices to edge up, saw the decline as a correction after gains in March and April, and said it did not change their view that prices were firming.   true       "The net result is a pick-up. The net strengthening makes the modest acceleration in the more important consumer inflation measures more credible," said Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, New York. The government revamped the PPI series at the start of the year to include services and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> construction . Big swings in prices received for trade servi

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in June as views by consumers with the lowest incomes soured, a survey released on Friday showed. _0"> The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary June reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 81.2, down from 81.9 the month before. It was below the median forecast of 83.0 among economists polled by Reuters.   true       "The change from May was too small to indicate a significant loss in sentiment," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. "The small month-to-month variations aside, the main finding from the recent surveys is that consumers have maintained their expectations at reasonably favorable levels for the past six months." The survey's barometer of current economic conditions rose to 95.4 from 94.5 and was below a forecast of 95.7. The survey's gauge of consumer expectations slipped to 72.2 from 73.7, and missed an expected 74.6. The survey's one-year

British class="mandelbrot_refrag"> construction output grew faster than previously thought in the first quarter, new figures showed on Friday, but could slow in the next three months, particularly after the government took steps to cool the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> housing market . Finance minister George Osborne said on Thursday that he would give the Bank of England stronger powers to curb mortgage lending, while BoE Governor Mark Carney said interest rates could rise sooner than financial markets expect. The comments sent sterling and short-dated British government bond yields soaring and caused shares to plunge, with housebuilders particularly hard hit. Some 1.7 billion pounds ($2.85 billion) has been wiped off the value of the six housebuilders and two property groups.   true       Economists say Osborne's announcement means the Bank may adopt a more direct approach when trying to curb mortgage lending. It is expected to announce more contro

The U.S. economic recovery should accelerate in coming months as an energy boom, steadily falling unemployment and a rebound in investment push growth to its fastest pace in a decade, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Friday. In its latest overview of the U.S. class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy , the Paris-based group said U.S. gross domestic product would expand 2.5 percent this year, a touch below a forecast it released last month. But it maintained its 3.5 percent growth projection for next year, which would be the strongest advance since 2004.   true       The OECD is more optimistic on U.S. growth than most private forecasters and some other international organizations, including the World Bank, which looks for growth in 2015 of only 3.0 percent. The OECD said it saw several positive trends converging to make the recovery faster, more entrenched and more driven by private demand. Low energy prices and continued low borrowing cos

The owner of Univision Communications Inc [UVN.UL] have recently held preliminary talks about selling the Spanish-language broadcaster with class="mandelbrot_refrag"> CBS Corp ( id="symbol_CBS.N_0"> CBS.N ), class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Time Warner Inc ( id="symbol_TWX.N TWX.N ) and other media companies, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. _0"> The talks, however, appear to have gone nowhere, the people said, citing the $20 billion Univision's owners are seeking for company as an issue. ( r.reuters.com/xew99v ) _1"> Univision spokeswoman Monica Talan said the company does not comment on rumors. Univision is based in the United States, and owned by Univision Communications Inc.   true       CBS representatives declined to comment on the report, while representatives for class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Time Warner did not immediately respond to a request for comment out

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel will hold a hearing on June 24 to examine the proposed purchase by class="mandelbrot_refrag"> AT&T ( id="symbol_T.N_0"> T.N ) of DirectTV ( id="symbol_DTV.O DTV.O ), the committee said on Thursday. _0"> The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hold its hearing on the same day to discuss plans by class="mandelbrot_refrag"> AT&T , the No. 2 U.S. cellular operator, to buy the largest U.S. satellite TV provider for $48.5 billion. _1"> AT&T has said that it wanted to buy DirectTV in order to offer consumers access to video in a variety of media and to give the company scale to compete with larger cable competitors.   true       The deal is one of three roiling the cable and wireless landscape. The other two are Comcast's ( id="symbol_CMCSA.O_2"> CMCSA.O ) $45.2 billion bid for class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Time War

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expects to start talks on building stakes in Ukrainian banks in the next few months as it looks to ensure that Ukraine's financial system does not rupture in the wake of tensions with Russia. In an interview with Reuters, Francis Malige, the EBRD's new head for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, said the situation in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Ukraine looked to have stabilized in recent weeks, although it was still far too early for optimism. The EBRD's latest forecasts, issued in May, have Ukraine's class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy shrinking 7 percent this year.   true       "We don't see at this stage an element that should push us to revise them in any direction," Malige said. "If I was a rating agency I would say it's not on negative watch, but it's not on positive watch either." He said the EBRD's involvement in a big road building project, e