WASHINGTON -- The Commerce Department said today that its initial estimate that the gross domestic product would fall 0.5% during the third quarter, compared with a 2.8% increase during the second three months of 2008, was accurate.

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions and their members looking for information on how to avoid having one's identity stolen can download a copy of the brochure You Have the Power to Stop Identity Theft from NCUA's Web site.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President-elect Joseph Biden will chair a task force to come up with policies aimed at improving the conditions of the nation's middle class, the transition team announced yesterday.

WASHINGTON - The struggling domestic automatic industry received a temporary reprieve today when the Bush administration announced a $17.4 billion loan package.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Credit unions wanting to apply for loans to help them rewrite mortgages of their low- and middle-income members now have until December 29 to do so.

WASHINGTON - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Belco Community Credit Union can keep its community charter that allows it to recruit members in a seven-county area in Central Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama named the last members of his cabinet and several other top administration officials today, focusing on business policy and transportation positions.

WASHINGTON - Federal credit unions and other credit card issuers would be banned from charging interest on repaid debt under regulations approved today by the NCUA and two other regulatory agencies.