commerce department

President Barack Obama has chosen businessman John Bryson to lead the Commerce Department, bringing another private sector player into an administration that has been making a concerted effort to improve its relationship with the business community.

Construction of new U.S. homes surged 10.5 percent in August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, as applications for building permits rose.

A private trade group said Thursday that the manufacturing sector expanded in March at its strongest pace since July 2004, but the Commerce Department reported that construction spending fell in February to its lowest level since November 2002.

Feb. 26 -- Guy Lebas, fixed-income strategist and economist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu about today's announcement by the Commerce Department that fourth-quarter gross domestic product expanded at a 5.9 percent annual rate.

The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in August as exports climbed to the highest level of the year and oil imports plunged.

The gap fell 3.6 percent to $30.7 billion from a revised $31.9 billion in July, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he plans to nominate Meredith Attwell Baker, a former Commerce Department official, to fill the open Republican slot on the Federal Communications Commission.

Total exports fell 2.3 percent to $121.1 billion, the lowest level for foreign sales since mid-2006, the Commerce Department said.

The Commerce Department released $53 million to Oregon and California on Thursday to help West Coast salmon fishermen after the third fishery failure in four years.