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Austria’s economy contracted for a fourth consecutive quarter after investments and exports tumbled because of the world financial crisis.

Second-quarter gross domestic product, the value of all services and goods, contracted 0.4 percent from the first quarter, when it fell 2.7 percent, the Vienna-based Wifo economic research institute said today. Compared with a year earlier, the economy weakened 4.4 percent.

“The Austrian economy was badly hit by the economic downturn,” Wifo said in an e-mail fast cash loans. A 0.4 percent increase in consumption, helped by government incentives to buy new autos, helped slow the economic deceleration, according to the institute.

Exports decreased 1.1 percent in the second quarter, the fifth consecutive decline, the report said. Imports fell 0.2 percent, the sixth straight quarterly drop.

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China has leveled new allegations in the arrest of employees of one of the world’s largest mining companies, saying Rio Tinto overcharged Chinese steel mills by $100 million over six years.

The latest allegations, involving the sale of iron ore, appeared on a Web site affiliated with China’s state secrets administration.

A spokeswoman for Rio Tinto (RTP) said Monday that the company had heard about the new accusations but did not wish to comment on it.

Last month, China arrested four company employees on suspicion of stealing state secrets.

China said the four employees bribed executives from 16 of China’s major steel mills to obtain industry information.

Rio Tinto has called the charges surprising and said it was not aware of any evidence to support an investigation.

The company recently was involved in annual negotiations about supply contracts with Chinese mills faxless payday loan online.

The arrests come a month after Rio Tinto broke off a more than $19 billion investment deal with China state-owned Chinalco.

The deal with Chinalco was signed in February and was awaiting a review by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

Rio Tinto has headquarters in London, England, and Melbourne, Australia.

The deal soured as opposition party members in Australia ratcheted disapproval, saying it would put Australian resources at strategic risk.

Others saw the deal as an alliance that would further link resource-rich Australia with the commodities-hungry Chinese market.

– CNN’s Jo Ling Kent contributed to this report. 

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Banks in the United States are poised to make $38.5 billion in customer overdraft fees this year, the Financial Times said, citing research by Moebs Services.

A large portion of the revenue is likely to come from the most financially stretched consumers, according to the paper.

It said the research showed that many banks have increased charges on overdrafts and credit cards in order to boost profits.

The median bank overdraft fee rose this year by one dollar to $26, the paper said, citing the Moebs data.

“Banks are returning to a fee-driven model and overdraft fees are the mother lode,” Mike Moebs, the company’s founder was quoted by the paper as saying no teletrack payday loan lenders.

Overdraft fees accounted for more than 75 percent of service fees charged on customer deposits, the paper cited Moebs as saying.

Last year the U.S. Federal Reserve approved credit card rules to curb “unfair” practices such as surprise fees and interest rate hikes, and new mortgage lending rules are expected this summer. It is also mulling rules to give bank customers the chance to opt out of overdraft schemes that can involve fees.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

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President Barack Obama signed legislation giving $2 billion to the “cash for clunkers” discount program as federal officials said the initial $1 billion in funding has been exhausted.

The Transportation Department said today that it had received 245,384 dealer applications for reimbursement funds totaling $1.03 billion through today.

The Senate voted 60-37 to extend the program last night, six days after the House took the same action. Obama then issued a statement calling the government initiative “a proven success” that will provide a “much-needed boost” to the economy.

Some analysts such as Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, have boosted forecasts for growth in the second half of the year due in part to the influence of the cash for clunkers program on manufacturing and consumer spending.

Sales for Ford Motor Co. rose for the first time since 2007 after the program began in July. Vehicle sales for General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC fell during the month, compared with a year earlier.

Some Republicans tried to halt the program, saying it was expensive and so poorly administered that it was unclear whether the initial funding was exhausted or how many cars had been sold.

‘Cash for Golf Clubs’

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, described the program as arbitrary and expensive, saying Congress should next embark on a “cash for golf clubs” offer.

Seven amendments, including one that would have imposed an income limit for participants and another to temporarily halt the program to clear a backlog of discount applications, were rejected before the final vote.

Any alterations to the program would have forced a suspension in the auto discounts until September, when the House returns from a monthlong recess.

The Car Allowance Rebate System provides credits of as much as $4,500 for the purchase of a new car when turning in an older vehicle to be scrapped. Lawmakers had expected the first $1 billion to generate about 250,000 vehicle sales and last until about Nov totally free credit score. 1.

The program has boosted sales for the ailing auto industry while removing pollution-belching cars from U.S. roads, said Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat.

Effective Plan

This is the “single most effective stimulus plan to date,” Stabenow told reporters after the vote.

The infusion of funds is intended to extend the program through August. Stabenow said it wouldn’t need a third allocation.

GM, the largest U.S. automaker, has the most sales under the program, according to Transportation Department data released this week.

The Detroit-based company sold 18.7 percent of the cars purchased under the plan. Toyota Motor Corp. based in Toyota City, Japan, had the second-most sales with 17.9 percent. Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford, was third with 16 percent. The agency released data on each automaker’s overall share a day after providing a list showing that four of the top five models sold were made by foreign automakers.

Toyota’s Corolla was the top model purchased by clunkers buyers through Aug. 5, surpassing Ford’s Focus, which had been No. 1, according to the data.

Three Largest

Vehicles made by the three largest U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — comprised fewer than half of sales under the program through Aug. 5, according to the Transportation Department data. The companies accounted for 45 percent of the clunkers transactions. Some vehicles sold by foreign companies are manufactured in the U.S.

Ford’s Explorer was the most popular trade-in vehicle, followed by Ford’s F150 pickup and Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. All of the top 10 trade-in models are made by the three U.S. automakers.

The average fuel economy of the vehicles purchased is 25.3 miles-per-gallon, a 60 percent improvement over the 15.8 miles- per-gallon average of the trade-ins.

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Despite the Obama administration’s promises that any Clunker deals written this weekend would be honored, the National Automobile Dealers Association is advising its members to play it safe and not close any more deals until the program’s fate is clearer.

"Regarding auto sales this weekend, one possible alternative is for dealers to take deposits in lieu of consummated sales with an eye toward legislative success next week," NADA spokesman Charles Cyrill wrote in an e-mail.

The House of Representatives allocated $2 billion more on Friday to continue the program after it apparently burned through its original $1 billion budget in the week since its official July 24 start date. The measure faces opposition in the Senate, however.

"We could have a legislative conclusion very quickly with the promise of more money for the program," Cyrill said later by telephone business cards. Until that’s settled, he said, the dealers’ organization is recommending that dealers proceed with caution.

Since the rules of the program require dealers to render traded-in vehicles permanently inoperable before applying for their rebates, dealers whose applications are not honored could be left with no money and no vehicle to sell.

Under the plan as enacted, vehicles purchased after July 1 will be eligible for refund vouchers worth $3,500 to $4,500 on traded-in gas guzzlers. The trade-in vehicle has to get a combined city and highway fuel economy rating of 18 miles per gallon or less.

The program aims to help the struggling auto industry by taking inefficient cars off the road and spurring new sales. 

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The number of Americans collecting long-term unemployment aid fell to the lowest in three months in mid-July, according to government data that implied a slowing pace of layoffs as the economy stabilizes.

The Labor Department said that while initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose by 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000 last week, the number of people still on benefit rolls after collecting an initial week of aid fell by 54,000 to 6.20 million in the week to July 18, the lowest since early April.

In addition, the four-week moving average for new claims, considered to be a better gauge of underlying trends, fell by 8,250 to 559,000, the lowest since late January.

The weekly moving average has declined for five straight weeks. New applications for unemployment benefits have in recent weeks been distorted by auto plant closures for retooling which normally happens in July.

Further, plant closures related to General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler bankruptcies have also caused volatility, making it difficult to gauge labor market trends.

Analysts said the general trend, however, was still toward a slowdown in the rate of layoffs, as illustrated by a consistent decline in the four-week moving average for new claims. This measure irons out weekly volatility.

Layoff pace slows

"It is becoming increasingly evident that the underlying pace of layoffs is slowing," said Stephen Stanley, an economist at RBS Securities in Greenwich, Connecticut. "The reality, outside of the auto sector at least, is that layoffs have probably been moderating steadily for several months instant cash advance."

The weekly jobs data, together with a string of stronger-than-expected quarterly corporate profits, lifted U.S. stocks, while government bond prices fell.

Recent data, including home sales and prices, have added to growing optimism that the recession is ending but high unemployment still weighs on consumer sentiment, which could result in the anticipated economic recovery being feeble.

Initial jobless claims are being monitored for signs of stability in the labor market and the number of laid off workers on jobless rolls fell for a third straight week.

The insured unemployment rate, which measures the percentage of the insured labor force who are jobless, was unchanged at 4.7% in the week ended July 18, remaining at that level for a third consecutive week.

Analysts said the sustained decline in continuing claims raised the chances of a less steep decline in July nonfarm payrolls data, due to be released next week.

"More to my liking is that continued claims are falling. There is the possibility that July’s payroll number could be better but that number could be suspect because of auto and seasonal adjustments in July," said Lee Olver, a fixed income strategist at SMH Capital in Houston, Texas.

A Reuters survey forecast U.S. nonfarm payrolls would be down 340,000 in July after shrinking 467,000 in June. The unemployment rate is forecast to rise to 9.7% from 9.5%. 

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